The Paths That Cross
by WritersElemental
Summary: Things are changing around here, starting with the roots of each beloved tale. When a combination of heroes and villains leave their traditional scripts, everything starts falling apart. Boundaries of tales are crossed and obliterated, and the team of two princesses, a viking, a queen, and an immortal winter sprite must return to the tales to set things right.
1. Vikings and Scots

_**Hi there! Vasudha here, of WritersElemental. I had this idea of a couple of Disney and Dreamworks characters crashing together, and I just chose How To Train Your Dragon and Rise of the Guardians as the main crossovers, since those are the two kind of worlds that it seems to be focused in. That, or Frozen's Arendelle.**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own How To Train Your Dragon, Brave, Rise of the Guardians, Frozen, or Tangled.**_

_**Just one ofhter warning before I start the story, it's going to become part of a network of other stories (hopefully, if I can piece it together) that are sort of alternate dimensions/times/space... just a fair warning. So yes... Jack might meet another Jack... and all sorts of crazy stuff. Just a touch of warning.**_

_**I hope you'll like it though!**_

* * *

The wind whistled across the top of the hidden place where Hiccup often met up with Toothless. Hiccup sighed as he looked up at the blue sky, his hand on Toothless's shoulder. He was going to have another stressful day this afternoon, at training. He didn't want to kill dragons, especially not after befriending Toothless. It felt… it felt wrong. As if he were killing one of his own friends.

"I don't know what I'm going to do, Toothless. I don't know how I can stop it. If I suddenly stop being able to pacify the dragons, then they'll all wonder what happened, and start to investigate. If I keep following the path I'm on now, then they'll put me in a cage, with a dragon, and tell me to kill it. I can't… I can't let that happen… but what am I going to do?"

He looked down at the Nightfury, who just looked up at him, ears slowly flattening to the back of its head in worry. Toothless often reminded him of a cat, the way that he could convey his emotions so well, the way that he acted.

Hiccup couldn't lose him.

"I'll tell ye what ye c'n do," A voice with a thick accent came from behind him. He heard the thump of something landed, and spun around. "Ye c'n always run away. Tha's what I did. Me Mum never listened to what I wanted. I had to choose me own path. So I chose to leave."

Hiccup blinked in surprise. The voice belonged to a girl, about his own age. She had bright red hair, all in frizzy curls, loose down her back. It looked like it came to the back of her knees. She wore a blue-green dress, long sleeved, which reached all the way to her ankles. Around the elbow- and shoulder-seams it looked to have been torn a little, revealing puffy white cloth underneath. It looked to be form-fitting, until it reached her hips, where it became loose enough to move around it, but not with so much fabric as to be a hindrance. Slung around her waist was a belt, from which hung a quiver full of arrows, and on her back was a bow, one which looked sturdy. The dress brought out her eyes, which were mostly blue, with a hint of green.

"Ah-excuse me, but who are you?" Hiccup asked, suspiciously. Toothless had the look on his face of someone who was trying to puzzle out something, the something being Merida. Hiccup couldn't blame him. How had Merida found this place? And what was she doing here?

"I'm Merida. Who're you?" She asked. Hiccup couldn't place her accent. She didn't seem to be a viking, but she sounded a lot like the people in his village-the accent was just thicker.

"I-I'm Hiccup. This is Toothless." Hiccup wasn't sure what to say. A strange girl had come bursting into a place that had been just his and Toothless's-until today-and was telling him to run away?

Merida looked him over. "Well then, Hiccup," She paused and seemed to suppress a slight giggle at his name. He rolled his eyes but refrained from saying anything. She cleared her throat. "Ahem. Hiccup, how many days until yer village forces ye to kill a dragon, if ye keep as you are now?"

Hiccup went over all the challenges left. "Fi-five days." He stammered. It was all brought home to him. The fact that he would run out of time in just five days.

Merida seemed a little sad. Was it for him? "Well then, ye've got just five days until you have to make yer decision. Will ye stay here, and possibly kill a dragon? Or will ye travel with me, to where we'll be free from all o' this followin' what others decide for us?"

Hiccup looked down at the ground. "I- I just don't know what I'll do. I don't want to leave my family, but…" He trailed off, and looked in the direction of the village. At the same time that he didn't want to leave his Father, and everyone he had ever known… His Father always wanted him to be someone he wasn't. No one appreciated him until he started looking like someone he wasn't. He wanted to be free of that.

He looked back at Merida. She had a small smile on her face. "No matter what you choose, choose it for yerself. Carve yer own path this time, instead of lettin' others do th' carvin' for ye."

With that, she began to climb, first the tree, then the vines and cracks in the rocks, until she reached the top of the wall around the place. She looked back down at the alcove, at Hiccup and Toothless.

"If ye be wantin' t' find me, I'll stay around here for a few more days, in case you decide to come with me."

Hiccup nodded, wordlessly, and raised his hands in farewell. Satisfied, Merida walked off into the woods, and disappeared from sight. Hiccup turned his attention back to Toothless.

"Alright, buddy. I've got to go again," Toothless changed his look from analyzing, to mournful, making himself look as weak as pitiful as he could, despite his size and strength. Hiccup chuckled and patted his shoulder. "Sorry buddy, I still gotta go. I'll be here tomorrow though, just you wait."

As Hiccup walked back towards the village, he looked up at the sky. Midday. Noon meal. Another meal spent being crowded around, unable to think over what he had learned with Toothless until they all left him, which wouldn't be until they all got distracted or he specifically asked for some alone time. And he thought Astrid might be getting suspicious over his repeated leaving the group. Most of the other vikings would have basked in the attention, were they in his place. And it was, admittedly, strange for Hiccup to suddenly be able to "fight" the dragons, when before he had utterly _failed_.

He sighed, and headed towards his home village, the sole human-inhabited place on Berk. And headed towards his likely doom.

He came out of the woods, out of the safety, the solace, of them, and entered the dangerous village. Strange how his family and friends would have viewed it the other way around… but he could see how the woods wasn't frightening and dangerous, just a place to survive, just like the village.

And he doubted he'd ever meet anyone who viewed it the same way.


	2. The Snow Queen

_**Vasudha again! This fic takes place WELL before the movie, but sort of alternate dimension where it isn't long before the movie happens, yet at the same time, Arendelle and Vikings and sort of Medieval Scotland are still around. Don't ask me how it works, it just randomly does in my mind. I don't even know how. Logic says it doesn't work. Fantasy says "Deal with it".**_

_**I think I'll stick with fantasy for now ;)**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own How To Train Your Dragon, Brave, Rise Of The Guardians, Tangled, or Frozen.**_

_**Thanks for Reading! Reviews are much appreciated.**_

_**Edit: There are gonna be some changes in the storyline, so, well... you'll just have to read and see! I can't give too many spoilers, now can I? ;)**_

* * *

Jack Frost flew across the Atlantic, sighing. He'd made Bunnymund angry… again. All he wanted was to be acknowledged, by someone, anyone! Why couldn't any of the Guardians see that? They were supposed to protect children, weren't they? And technically speaking, though he was somewhere around one-hundred years, he _was_ stuck at age seventeen for those one-hundred years, so technically speaking, he was still a child… Right?

The Guardians evidently never thought of him like that. The yetis never let him into the North Pole, the Tooth Fairy never noticed him when he came close to the Tooth Palace. He didn't know where the Sandman settled-if he settled anywhere other than his little cloud. But every time he saw Sandy, he was busy giving dreams to children… and Jack respected that. He couldn't tell if Sandy ever noticed it when he was around, as Sandy gave sweet dreams to children… but Sandy never stopped. He was constantly around the children, better than "Santa Claus" or the "Easter Bunny".

Speaking of Bunnymund… Sure, the Kangaroo acknowledged him. Only when he caused it to snow on Easter though. Only when he caused chaos in the Warren. Only when he directly interfered with the Easter Kangaroo's life.

Why couldn't any of them see Jack as he really was? Just a kid, looking for someone to say "Hi there, want to hang out with me?". That's all Jack was. A kid everyone had forsaken. A kid with no purpose in the world.

A kid trying to run away from it all. But he couldn't. No matter how much Jack flew around the globe, they were all there. They were everywhere. No matter how much he tried to go somewhere free from it all, one of them was there, evident by sand in the sky, the buzzing of wings zipping past, the jingle of bells on a sleigh, or the thumping of a rabbit's footsteps.

Why couldn't he just escape?

Shaking his head, he did his best to take his mind away from his thoughts. Even though he couldn't entirely get away… he could try. He could go to a place that they weren't well known. He was used to not being believed in, he could handle it. But if they weren't believed in, they might not really visit there often. Well, Sandy might. But all he'd have to do to avoid scrutiny is to keep his wintery powers under control, sweep snow into hidden places, hide frost until the little man went away, and bring it back out again every day.

Suddenly, he found a fjord that was already frozen solid-despite the fact that it was the middle of summer. Oh, Bunny must not like this… if he even knew about it…

An idea occurred to Jack. It was entirely possible that the Guardians were not known here. The only one he'd have to worry about would be Sandman, and even then, he would just have to keep himself out of sight! None of this was his doing, and Sandy probably knew it.

It was a place he could stay, away from the Big Four, away from being alone and ignored, even though he knew they could see him.

A place where he might even be able to get a friend.

For instance, who had started this whole winter? Who made winter come _in the middle of summer_? It wasn't like just anyone could come up and create a random winter. Jack wasn't even sure if he could, depending upon where he was. Tropics? Forget it. There was a 99% chance he would fail. At the least. But the more northern areas… like this place in Norway… it was possible.  
He doubted he could thaw the entire thing, but it wasn't like he wanted to. And anyways, who wouldn't want a snowy day to take away the heat?

As he flew toward the town at the fjord, he noticed something about everyone in the village. It must have been a full 24 hours at least since this winter started, and no one had any winter clothing. It was, after all, the middle of summer. Everyone was unprepared for the cold. They were shivering, huddling up in groups to try to stave off the cold. And it really brought home to Jack the damage he could cause.

Shaking his head, he looked up to notice a palace. Perhaps people could stay there. As he approached it, he noted with approval that a man, who seemed to go by "Prince Hans" from what others were calling him, was handing out warm cloaks that were apparently from the palace itself, and was inviting people to stay at the palace. This made sense, since there was a large amount of space in the palace already, and for the most part, the palace was often considered the most important part of any town.

Leaving Prince Hans as some nobles began to complain about the fact that he was giving away the trade-able goods and letting peasants into the castle, Jack flew toward the castle itself, to see how many people were already at the palace.

To his astonishment, not many people were inside the palace. In fact, there was an entire corridor that seemed empty. As he poked around, assured that no one could see him, Jack noticed a door from underneath which cold air blew. Curious, he quietly opened the door, closing it behind him.

To his astonishment, the entire room was filled with snow, ice, and frost. It was exactly as if he himself had lost control of his powers and just blasted them in a room. Snow covered the bedspread, ice climbed the walls. Frost covered both ice and the glass in the windows. a slight covering of snow lay on the floor, and Jack was careful to begin to sweep it up. Who knew when someone would just open up the door into the room? He didn't want anyone getting attacked simply because of the ability to control Ice and Snow… well… have the gift to, at least.

From the way that frost and ice sporadically covered things that were generally used everyday, Jack guessed that whomever resided in this room likely had no control over their powers. Saddened, he looked out the glass doors in front of the balcony, calling the wind through the slight opening in the door to whisk away the ice and snow. With the coldest parts of the indoor winter gone, the frost slowly began to melt, much to Jack's relief. Whomever resided in this room was safe, for the time being.

Curious, Jack took a second look at the objects in the room. Something about them tugged at his mind…

He suddenly realized what it was. Everything was of high quality. Everything looked to belong to royalty.

Looking up, he saw that through the balcony, he had a clear view of the mountains. The clear place for anyone with ice and snow powers to flee to, especially if they were royalty.

"Wind… please, take me over the mountains…" He whispered, fearing for whomever had the same gift as he. If people had attacked that person, who was likely already unstable, who knew what could happen? Images of icy blades being shoved into the heart filled Jack's mind, shortly followed with images of groups of misunderstanding people wielding torches to attack the one with the gift.

The wind immediately responded, lifting him up, and drifting him out of the window. From there, he flew as quickly as he could, looking for a mountain that someone could reach on foot.

There was only one that he could see, the northern one.

As he flew up, he noticed a small figure making its way up the mountain, with a royal purple cloak trailing behind it. Guessing that this was the person he was looking for, he brought himself a little lower, to try to get a closer look at the figure.

As he got close enough that he could see the figure fairly clearly, he realized that it was a young woman, about his age, perhaps a little older. Her hair was platinum blonde, almost white, like Jack's. Her eyes were big, and blue. She rubbed her arms as she walked, seeming to do so more out of habit and nerves than the cold.

Coming closer, he saw the look on her face. She looked scared, worried, and saddened. Her lips, a deep red, were pulled into a distinct frown. She had one blue glove, the other hand was bare. Her dress was elegant, and her hair was pinned up in a bun on the back of her head. Perched on her head was a delicate crown, golden, with a blue gem featuring. The dress was a teal, with black shoulders and sleeves. The sleeves came all the way to points on her hands.

As he came close, she began to sing, and turned back to look towards the direction the town would have been.

"**The snow glows white on the mountain tonight,**

**not a footprint to be seen.**

**A kingdom of isolation**

And it looks like,

I'm the Queen."

She sang despondently. Her cloak flew back a little, lifted by the wind. She turned back towards the mountain.

"**The wind is howling like the swirling storm inside."**

She shook her head, pushing her hand down as if to emphasize to someone that something wasn't possible. Her expression turned from frustrated to saddened though, with her next line.

"**Couldn't keep it in,**

**Heaven knows I tried…"**

She wrapped her arms around herself to give some attempt at comfort, her eyes shut for a moment. Then, her eyes flew open, and she continued on, seeming as though she were scolding herself, as she kept on up the mountain.

"**Don't let them in,**

**Don't let them see.**

**Be the good girl,**

**you always have to be!**

**Conceal, don't feel.**

**Don't let them know…"**

She clenched her hands into fists, then released the fists and looked down at her gloved hand.

"**Well now they know!"**

She ripped off the glove and spun, tossing it into the wind, and allowing it to be carried far away. Turning back towards the direction she was going, she opened her palms and began creating tiny flurries of snowflakes from her palms.

"**Let it go!**

**Let it go!**

**Can't hold it back anymore!"**

She created an entire snowman, missing only the nose, with a couple of waves of her hands.

"**Let it go!**

**Let it go~o!**

**Turn away and slam the door!"**

Looking up towards the sky, she released curling, feathered tendrils of snow upwards, then swiftly brought it down with a single hand motion, as though she were slamming a door.

"**I don't care,**

**what they're going to say."**

With each line, she sent flurries of snow up along the banks, then simply let them be carried off in the wind.

"**Let the storm rage on.**

**The cold never bothered me anyway."**

She paused, and unclasped her cloak. Without her tethering it down, it flew off the mountain, carried by the wind. Released from the weight, the young woman marched confidently up the mountain, towards a gap. Curious as to what she was going to do, Jack followed.

"**It's funny how some distance,**

**makes everything seem small.**

**And the fears that once controlled me,**

**can't get to me at all!"**

Giddy with this fact, she spun around fully, then continued towards the gap, running now.

"**It's time to see what I can do,**

**to test the limits and break through!"**

Curling up her hands towards herself, she snapped them out, sending an icy flurry towards the gap, and creating the start of some stairs. The stairs looked unfinished however, with little frosty ice shards (you know, like those ones you see on snow after a cold night?) covering the edges.

"**No right, no wrong,**

**no rules for me~e!**

She ran up to the staircase, paused, and planted her foot on the first step.

"**I'm free!"**

As she did, a small area around where she had planted her foot became a finished, icy smooth step. Looking around excitedly, she started running up the steps, continuing to create the staircase as she ran.

"**Let it go!**

**Let it go!**

**I'm one with the wind and sky,"**

With every step she took, hands out towards the railings, she created more unfinished staircase in front of her. With every step she took, every time she put her foot on a stair-step, the staircase in that area became finished, smooth, ice.

"**Let it go!**

**Let it go~o!"**

She reached the other side of the gap, further on up the mountain, and spun around.

"**You'll never see me cry!**

**Here I stand!"**

Running a couple of feet away from the top of the staircase, she lifted up the edge of her skirt to clear her knee, and stamped on the ground. Where she stamped, an incredibly huge snowflake began forming, filled with detail, and reaching all the way out to the top of the staircase.

"**And here I'll stay!**

**Let the storm rage on…"**

She looked around surveying her work, then brought her hands down quickly, pulling them up slower, as though she were lifting something heavy. As she did so, ice columns began forming, lifting up a floor entirely of ice.

"**My power flurries through the air into the ground!"**

She spun around in the center of the floor, hand outward. As she did so, the snowflake design in the center lit up iridescently. Then she lifted her hands up quickly, and the iridescence rushed out of the tips of the snowflake, traveling up the columns towards the top of them, forming a mostly see-through roof, as though it were made of glass.

"**Ice slowly spiraling in frozen fractals,**

**all around!"**

With a slight explosion of snow, an ice chandelier began to form, like a snowflake, from the top of the ceiling.

**And one thought crystallizes like an icy blast!**

**I'm never going back!"**

She ripped the crown out of her hair, and held it in her hand a moment, shaking her head slightly at it. Then, with a flick of her wrist, she tossed it away.

"**The past is in the past!**

**Let it go!**

**Let it go!"**

Swiftly, she reached back and undid whatever it was holding her hair in a bun. Released, a messy french braid flicked down and over her left shoulder.

"**And I'll rise like the break of da~awn!"**

With a gesture upwards of her right hand, ice and snow began to flurry around her dress, starting from the floor and going upwards. It took Jack a moment to realize that she was entirely changing the very cloth she was wearing with her winter powers.

"**Let it go!**

**Let it go~o!"**

Flicking her hands backwards as she headed towards the balcony doors, a frosty cloak, a lighter weight mimic of her purple one, formed, trailing behind her. The cloak was light blue, and the dress itself was a light teal, with a slit up to the knee on both sides. It was shimmery, and slightly more form-fitting than the dress it had replaced. The sleeves were long as well, and came to points in the back of her hand, just as the dress she had marched up in had, but these ones were made of the same material as the cloak, and looked more like ice and frost lace, than a full-blown, thick sleeve. The teal material's top was like the heart-shaped neckline of bridal gowns Jack had seen on winter weddings (that type of neckline was fairly rare though, unless the wedding was held inside.) From there, the lacy ice-frost stuff came up to near the top of her shoulders, and stopped, leaving her shoulders bare.

"**That perfect girl is gone!**

**Here I stand,**

**in the light of day!"**

With that declaration, she lifted her arms up and out to either stage, standing on her balcony.

"**Let the storm rage on!"**

She let her hands back down, and lowered her voice, a sly expression on her face. Jack noticed three little snowflake clips in her french braid, then shook his head and focused on her actions.

"**The cold never bothered me anyway."**

Spinning around, a small handful of her cloak keeping it behind her, she stepped through the balcony doors, slamming them shut in Jack's face.

Leaning back against the balcony rail, Jack grinned. In mere moments, the young woman had gone from knowing almost nothing of how to control her powers, to being able to control them almost completely. And being able to create some pretty impressive things, Jack had to admit.

Things had just gotten much more interesting around here.

* * *

Sandman, also known as Sandy, was busily making dreams for all the children, trailing along in his dreamsand cloud, and all was peaceful. Taking a little look at the dreams, Sandy saw parties, summer picnics, village fairs, you name it, almost every kind of thing a child could think of was present. Drifting towards Arendelle, since it had reached nightfall, Sandy was surprised to find only a few children asleep when he sent some dreamsand on ahead.

Turning his cloud into a dreamsand horse, he hurried towards Arendelle. Much to his surprise, he found it covered in snow. It was supposed to be sunny, and warm, and summer! Not winter. Curious as to find out if it was Jack Frost whom had created the winter, Sandy went lower for a closer look.

Drifting through the town, he helped parents by sending children to sleep, and giving them sweet, blissful dreams. As he wandered through the town, he found some important-looking men handing out blankets and cloaks to the peasants. He came closer towards them, knowing that they wouldn't see him. They didn't believe in him anymore, and it was rare that there was a fully-grown adult who did.

"Prince Hans, where is Princess Anna?" Asked one noble.

"Yes, do you think she collaborated with Queen Elsa in creating the winter?" Another noble accused.

The man they were all addressing as Prince Hans, the one who was handing out the most cloaks, spun around on them, hostility clear in his gaze. "Princess Anna is trying to stop this winter, not further it! And Queen Elsa did not mean to create this winter. She merely became nervous."

A particularly stuck-up looking noble harrumphed. "Well, this sorcery is likely what shut the kingdom down for so many years! She has _got_ to be stopped! Someone should go out to stop her!"

Before he could turn toward the two men behind him, Prince Hans stopped him. "No, Princess Anna has already left. Everything will be fine. Please, leave it to her for now."

But just then, a white horse came careening into the square. As the nobles and Prince Hans looked upon it with shocked gasps, it began to slow, though it reared.

Hans rushed forward, calming it. Sandy heard a couple of people mutter "That's Princess Anna's horse!" "What do you think happened?"

The man who had prepared to send his two men after Queen Elsa before gestured towards the horse. "Well now look where that has gotten us! Princess Anna is missing, perhaps working with the Queen, perhaps _dead!_ We cannot refrain from action any longer!"

Prince Hans looked down, then nodded. "Alright, but we'll go slowly, and look for Princess Anna along the way. It's possible that she is still alive and not working with the Queen," Raising his voice, he looked around. "I'll need a group of men to come with me and _peacefully_ bring Queen Elsa back to Arendelle! Who will join me?"

The shady noble raised his hand slightly. "I volunteer two men, sire!" Then, leaning back towards the men, he lowered his voice significantly. "Dispose of her the first chance you get," He ordered quietly. The two men behind him nodded, then headed towards Prince Hans to join him.

Sandy shook his head with worry, and flew back up into the air. Taking one last look at the frozen fjord, he formed a horse out of dreamsand once more, and rushed towards the North Pole. The Guardians needed to know what was happening, and soon.


	3. Long, Golden, Bored, Locks

_**This is a pretty short chapter, I know... but trust me, the next one will be six pages long, and my brain said 'aaaaand this is good let's go over here.' and I was like 'but... but... it's such a short chapter!' and brain said 'nope, I want this side of the story' and the brain has writer's block ability, so I huffed and said 'fine' and went with it.**_

_**So never mind my rambling, I'm gonna head on over to the next chapter!**_

_**I DO NOT OWN TANGLED, FROZEN, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON, BRAVE, RISE OF THE GUARDIANS, OR ANY OTHER DISNEY OR DREAMWORK STORIES THAT MIGHT POP IN AT A FUTURE TIME. I wish I was that awesome, but I'm not.**_

* * *

Hiccup lay in his bed, and recounted the days earlier events. Today had been a mix of wonder and amazement, and horror. He was one step closer towards being forced to kill a dragon, and his life looked as bleak as it had yesterday.

Training had begun with the usual. Choosing your weapons. As usual, Hiccup chose a big shield, and a small weapon, while Astrid chose the biggest weapon and a regular shield. And, as usual, everything looked like it was going to go to Astrid, when Hiccup came through and used one of the techniques he had used while training Toothless. Today, it had been the sweet grass.

The Gronkle charged towards him, dragged itself to a stop upon seeing the grass in his hand, and eagerly sniffed it, eyes dilating. The dragon collapsed, and allowed itself to be put back into its cage, still under the effects of the sweet grass.

And, as usual, Astrid fumed while the other Vikings congratulated him. And, as usual, none of them let him alone until he entered his empty home.

Which was starting to feel more like a simple house, rather than a home...

He sighed, and folded his arms behind his head. Nothing ever seemed to go right for him. Everyone in the village wanted him to be somebody he wasn't. Toothless wanted to help him be who he was. He tried to balance both, and found himself with a foot in both worlds, and nowhere to go. Rolling out of bed, he filled a basket with fish, and slipped out the back door, towards the woods. Towards the only place he could be himself.

Towards the only place he could be free.

Rapunzel stared up at her ceiling and heaved a sigh. Why couldn't she leave? Just once? Why couldn't Mother go with her to protect her, if the world was so horrible? If the world was so horrible, why did Mother go out in it every day, leaving Rapunzel alone?

She glanced around the bedroom, looking at the walls, plastered with paintings. She was beginning to run out of space. Soon enough, she'd have to start in on the tiles. And once that was done, well... she'd have to find some other way to output her creative side. Maybe in tapestries. Maybe in embroidery. She knew how to sew, after all. Perhaps if she perfected her embroidery skills, she could ask Mother to sell them, to maybe give them away, or something? It was an idea, at least. And Rapunzel was rapidly running out of ideas.

"Rapun~zel! Let down your ha~air!" She heard the familiar call, and groaned, rolling out of bed and running towards the window. "Coming, Mother!" She replied.

Hooking her hair onto the little hook that seemed to be put there for that purpose, she let down most of her hair, and waited to feel the familiar weight that told her that Mother had her weight on it. Once she felt that, she began pulling with her hands, preferring to exert herself than to deal with the feeling of her scalp being ripped off. Once Mother Gothel reached the top, Rapunzel released her hold on her hair, and just concentrated on breathing. Mother weighed _a lot_, being a fully grown person. And Rapunzel being able to pull her up _on her own hair_ was something that took quite a bit of effort.

Tapping Rapunzel on her nose, Mother headed towards the stove. "Good Morning, Flower. Did you sleep well?" She asked, glancing back over her shoulder at the blonde.

Rapunzel was busy focusing on getting her hair looped over a particular beam of the rafters, to be able to get up to see parts of the ceiling clearer. She thought she saw a spot she hadn't painted on yet. "Yes, Mother. I slept wonderfully."

Mother Gothel turned around, looking at Rapunzel climbing up onto the rafter, and scooting along it towards the part where the ceiling met the wall. "Rapunzel, dear, what _are_ you doing?" She asked, incredulously.

Rapunzel looked down at her mother. "I—" she bit her lip, unsure if she wanted to share her thoughts with her mother. Finally, she took deep breath, and continued. "I'm running out of places to paint, Mother. So I thought I'd see if there was any place left and—"

Mother looked relieved at that. "And you're looking for something else to do, just in case?" She finished. Rapunzel nodded. Mother turned back to the stove, preparing something for breakfast. "Well, my dear, I believe I can help with that. There are plenty of handicrafts to turn to, you know. Embroidery, cross-stitch, needlepoint, perfecting your knitting, crochet, quilting.. really, the list just goes on!"

Rapunzel grinned, reaching for the paintbrush she had just tucked behind her ear, to start painting. She had a small area… looked about 3' by 3'... but she could make it work. "Already thought about that, Mother. Not sure which to pick though, I was thinking…" She paused, and before the paintbrush could touch the wall, it drooped a little. "I was thinking… maybe something that we could give… or sell… to others out there. Or that you could sell or give away." She finished, softly.

She could hear her Mother slow in her chopping, then speed up again. "I think that might be a wonderful idea, Rapunzel. It would be very nice to give some stuff away to those in need. What did you have in mind?"

Rapunzel carefully began painting, choosing her colors with care. "Maybe… Perfecting my sewing and embroidery, for now. Making some clothes for them? I'll practice on my own clothes at first, but then… maybe then we can start selling stuff, and then eventually, giving it away to those in need?"

Mother smiled, Rapunzel could hear it in her voice. "That sound wonderful, Rapunzel. I think that is a grand idea. How about we start putting it into action once we finish breakfast, alright? I'll be happy to take these things out to them."

Rapunzel smiled a sad little smile, and struggled to keep the sadness out of her voice when she replied. "Alright, Mother. After breakfast, we'll talk about it," The thing was, her Mother had just revealed to her that she never wanted Rapunzel to leave the tower. Ever. She added the finishing touches on the small painting, of Rapunzel herself, her hair braided back to be shorter than the seventy feet it really was, out in the forest.

And maybe, one day, it would actually come true.


	4. Frost and Snow

_**Edit: I'm really really sorry! I just changed the chapter out, 'cause I realized there was a slight issue: Jack was 318 in PRESENT DAY TIMES, not in the time of Arendelle's setting, so I changed that arround. It didn't make too much of a difference, but there would have been a continuation issue. I'm aware that Jack probably wouldn't have been 100 at the time of Elsa's life, but I decided that I'm gonna mess around with the timeline a bi tanyways 'cause 100 years gives him some time to practice is powers and such.**_

_**Disclaimer: I do NOT own ROTG or Frozen, though I wish I could so I could legitimately kill off Hans. :D**_

_**Thank you for reading! -Vasudha**_

* * *

Elsa sighed, looking out at the wintery landscape. This was where she belonged. This was where she could be herself, be free from the days of being a royal, be free from the oppressive heat of the warm people around her, be free from the constricting, overheating clothing, to be free with her gift.

She never wanted to go back. Not even her sister could persuade her to go back to that torture. Not even her sister could tell her everything would be alright. Especially not after proving that she could just as easily be the perfect Queen to Arendelle, especially so prepared to have a King at her side.

Meanwhile, Elsa would be the hated Ice Queen if she remained in Arendelle. She would be considered a danger, a horror, someone to be cautious around because she might freeze you where you stand.

And how could Elsa ever fix that?

No, she belonged here. She wouldn't mind being lonely, not if she were free. Being free was something that she hadn't been—probably in her whole life! Not even as a child had she been as free as this, she reflected sadly.

Turning from the white of the snow, she headed into her castle, the doors shutting on their own behind her. She didn't want to face the world. And perhaps she should move farther away from Arendelle, in mountains. That would put Arendelle at less of a risk of her freezing it. Hell... she didn't even know what had happened. She knew the ice had frozen beneath her feet, but as she had fled into the mountains, she had seen snow falling, and had heard the cracking sound of large amounts of ice. What had happened to Arendelle?

Shaking her head, she looked around at her palace, trying to take the perspective of a complete stranger, looking at it anew. To her, it looked more like a home than she'd ever had. But to most people, it probably looked bare, looked... unpersonalized. It probably looked like a shell. Others would probably add decorations, furniture.

But Elsa saw everything she would possibly want, except a bed. And surely, if she could create clothing of ice and snow, she could create a mattress and lightweight blankets. And if it were made of ice and snow, she could easily sweep it away, out the window. The only other thing she could think of doing, to pass the time, would be to practice her new powers. She had seen the flourishes of snow she had created while simply releasing her power earlier... surely she could try and duplicate that as frost, couldn't she? Not to mention, if she could work it so that she controlled the frost, she could probably cover the walls with "paintings" or murals of frost, as decoration.

Suddenly, a tapping on her balcony doors caught her attention. What could possibly cause the tapping, this high in the mountains? Surely it couldn't be a bird, its wings would have been covered by frost and ice by now. Elsa hadn't seen anything _living_ on her way up here... so what was it?

Cautious, and fully aware that her nerves were causing spikes of frost to form on her walls, she approached her doors, one hand in a loose claw form, ready to freeze or claw the face off of any intruders.

She peered out through the opaque ice of the doors, and saw—nothing. Absolutely nothing and no one was out there. Relaxing, Elsa dropped her hand, and the frost designs disappeared. Calmly, she pushed the doors open and stood just within the doorway, overlooking the early afternoon sun. Her stomach began to grumble.

Looking down, she pressed one hand against her stomach, mouth twisting slightly. That was one issue she hadn't considered: Food. Water was easy enough, rivers nearby, or even sucking on ice. But you couldn't just conjure food out of ice and snow. Not anything that would be substantial, that was for sure.

Suddenly, she began to smell cooked meat. Was that... beef, she smelled? She sniffed appreciatively, before an icy wind blew by and cleared her mind. She shook her head, smiling slightly at herself. Beef, at this height? Who was she kidding? Food would mean that someone had come up here, and she didn't see anyone.

She began to turn towards her home, tilting her head down wistfully as her thoughts began to turn inward, when she noticed an odd shadow. Baffled, she looked at it. It was on the wall, next to her open doors. It was in the shape of a teenage boy, perhaps of about sixteen to eighteen years of age. But for it to have been made on her wall... would mean that the boy would have to be flying...

Confused, Elsa turned slowly following the shadow to the edge of her balcony, and looking up—

To squeak as she came face-to-face with a flying boy about four inches from her face. "Eeeep!" She exclaimed, stumbling backwards, arms flailing, as she attempted to regain balance.

Finally resting her hand against one of her doors, she found it again, as the boy perched on her balcony rail, a warm, roast beef sandwich in one hand, an old wooden staff in the other. He had hair as white as the snow upon the mountain they were on, and eyes that were crystal, arctic blue. He had his head slightly tilted, and had a slight smirk forming on his face as he gazed at her.

Her shock was clear on her face. "Y-you—how are you—flying! You—you're flying! Ahahahaha!" She held her hands up to her forehead. "I must be going mad! There's a flying boy who knows _how_ many feet off the ground, conveniently with a sandwich in his hand. Who just _happens_ to look like me. I'm going mad! The Curse and the isolation are getting to me. That must be it."

The boy chuckled, straightening his legs out to stand on the balcony. "You're not hallucinating, though you do sound like you need a bit of help and company..." He held the sandwich out to her. "Hold this in your hands, take a bite, and tell me that's not real. 'Cause it's a little hurtful to be called a hallucination."

Elsa flushed, then reached out to take it. It was rougher than the ones she was used to, and likely had come from a village. "Who... who are you, if you're not some figment of my imagination?" She asked cautiously.

He swung his walking stick about, and she noticed a few stray snowflakes flutter about in the breeze that came to tease her hair, brushing it against her forehead. She pushed it back impatiently. He kept looking at her, the expression on his face seeming to tell her that the answer was right before her. When she didn't realize whatever he was attempting to get her to realize, he sighed and flew over her into her home.

He looked around calmly as she tried to rush in. "Hey, hasn't anyone ever told you that it's rude to barge into people's homes?" She demanded. His only reply was a smirk, at first.

He began to trail the G-shaped hook of his odd stick against the ground, but she focused on him. "Perhaps, but this doesn't look like much of a home to me. Not even a place to sleep?" He whistled a low whistle. "You must have just moved in. And you'd better feel per-etty comfortable if you're already calling it a home. Nice palace though, I must say. Nice on the outside. What about internal designs though? Furnishings? Light source? Do you plan on going to bed with the sun? That'll be okay during the summer, but winter will make you restless as you get a lot of sleep."

Elsa's frustration grew. "Just who are you to analyze my life like this?!" She had gotten analyzed before at the coronation, at the palace, all her life... she had thought she had left it behind when she left Arendelle behind.

It appeared she hadn't.

The boy turned back to her, as he walked along the walls, dragging his stick along the the wall. "And will you _please_ stop dragging your—stick—thing—along the walls? The racket it's making is enough to drive me up a wall, let alone to shove you outside. And since I know you can fly, I might be tempted to shove you off the balcony." Elsa growled the last part.

The boy merely grinned. "You haven't been paying much attention to the important things. And for all that you seem to say you've left that life of a Queen behind, you sure do take control."

Elsa huffed. "Just _who are you?!_" She asked, exasperated. The boy was getting on her nerves, quite frankly.

He just chuckled again, continuing to circulate the room with his stick. Finally, he came to the center, where she was, and stopped in front of her, tapping his stick on the ground with his left hand. "You know, I would have thought you'd have recognized me before, particularly with the flying bit and the snowflake bit, and, well, if you'd looked at what I was doing. I gave you quite a bit of hints as to my identity."

Elsa was just confused, at this point. "Wha? What do you _mean_?" she asked, beginning to grow desperate.

However, when he reached out to her hand, she curled both hands against her chest. The last time anyone had reached for her hands without gloves, she had nearly frozen them. She didn't want her Curse getting out of control.

But he quickly—though admittedly gently—took her hand, and shocked her slightly as she did. His hand felt even colder than hers, if that was possible. Hers was slightly chilled, but she was still warmer than the ice and snow around her. It was only natural, after all, since she was a living being. She wasn't entirely sure she was human though.

The boy though, was... colder than her, his skin was the same color, his eyes were a piercing arctic blue, and his hair... While hers was a pale blonde, his was as white as the snow around them. She was beginning to wonder, just who _was_ this boy?

"Your Majesty, if I may reintroduce myself," He began, lowering himself into a slight bow. "You likely know of me as Jokul Frosti."

Elsa gasped. "Old Man Frost..." She breathed, and his head snapped up.

"I am not _that_ old!" He exclaimed. "Do I look old to you?"

He looked so indignant that Elsa had to struggle to keep from laughing. "Well, you do have the white hair," She teased.

He huffed. "Well, excuse _me_ for trying to welcome you."

Elsa paused, and her brows knit together. "Pardon? You were teasing me a minute ago. What do you—" She broke off as he gestured to the room around them, and her eyes widened.

On one part of the wall, the frost depicted a picture of a strange series of tunnels, and little eggs on feet running around through them. Though it was a frozen and icy picture, she got the sincere warm feeling of spring and growing things, just by looking at it.

Another part of her all showed a massive building, perched on a mountain, much like hers, but bigger, and with windows peeking out of the mountain. It looked more to be built _into_ the mountain, than built _on_ it.

The third part of the wall depicted a beautifully shaped palace, though it was strange in structure. It looked foreign, with its curves and points. She had seen paintings of places like that, and had been told that they were from India. Was this palace in India? But as she took a second look, she gasped in amazement. The palace looked to be miraculously floating in the air! And as she came close to the wall, she noticed the tiny details of little miniscule fairy creatures that were in the air around the palace. In the distance, she could just barely see a larger one, with arms and legs, and a long tail, directing swarms of them.

Clearing his throat, Jokul brought Elsa's attention back towards him, before gesturing towards the floor. As she did, she gasped, partially from shock this time.

He had made a very accurate picture of her creating her ice palace. Complete with the look of determination on her face. In this one, however, she was dressed as she was now, with the loose braid, and the clothes of snow and ice, rather than the uptight clothing of her disastrous Coronation ceremony. She looked back up at him, her curiosity written plainly on her face.

"Wha... How—?" But with a finger to her mouth, he silenced her, as her eyes crossed to attempt to see his finger.

When she looked back towards his face, he was gently smiling. "I figured it might be a nice welcome gift, since you seemed to be at a loss for creativity."

Elsa blinked. Her mind was blank for a moment. He was so nice, so strange... And she remembered the sandwich in her grip.

As he took his finger away from her mouth, her stomach growled again. Blushing slightly, she began to eat the sandwich. It was delicious, particularly after having gone so long without food. Licking her fingers afterward (unabashedly, too) she noticed him reaching into the the inside of his cape, and pulling out a small wrapper of—

"Chocolate!" She exclaimed, greedily taking it from his hand and already starting on eating it. He smiled at her as she continued eating, ignoring him in favor of the treat she so enjoyed.

"You know..." He began. "I prefer to be called Jack. Jack Frost, really," The statement was mostly lost on her for a bit, since it had been a bit of a while since she'd had the delicious treat of chocolate, and her nerves had been shot for a while.

Then the statement hit her, and she looked up at him. "Jack Frost? But I thought your name was Jokul Frosti...? Or Old Man Frost, really... but you don't look that old. Maybe... King Frost?" She searched through all the lore in her mind.

He laughed in response. "I'm not really the King of anything, though I _am_ actually about around 100 years old," he replied. "But seriously, Jack Frost's the real name. I'm not sure who began calling me Jokul Frosti, but however much it may _sound_ cool, my real name is just: Jack Frost."

Elsa pondered that a moment. "Huh. Not even King Frost? Or Prince Frost?" She asked, curiosity written plainly on her face. When he shook his head in reply, her brow furrowed. "I would have thought that you would be considered at least a Prince of Winter, since I've never known anyone besides you or I to control the ice and snow."

Jack smirked. "Would that make you the Princess of Winter?" He asked casually. For a moment, Elsa didn't make the connection. The Princess of Winter? She was the _Queen_ of _Arendelle_. How could she a Princess of Winter itself, when her life was likely not even half the span of his! No, scratch that. He was likely an Immortal. Elsa herself? She was pretty sure she was Mortal. She doubted she would ever live to see 80, let alone 100.

Then she realized. She had powers of her Ice and Snow, and she wasn't his sister. For him to call her the Princess of Winter could mean... a courtship invitation? She blushed furiously. "N-no, it couldn't be. I-I'm nowhere near as everlasting as Winter itself, and I—"

She broke off as she saw his expression. When she had pointed out the fact that she wouldn't last as long as Winter itself, she pointed out the fact that he _would_, that he would live hundreds of years, watching people die in front of him, making futile friendships, if he was seen at all. She had the feeling that he didn't get much human interaction. After all, though she had seen the winter weather all the time, she had never seen him before today.

His face had fallen, closed off, really. She could see in his eyes how close he was to flying off. Elsa wasn't even sure what was keeping him there. She reached a hand out to him, tentatively. She wasn't sure if she would accidentally fire off her powers, not to mention the fact that he might not want her near him right then. "Jack? I—I'm sorry."

He looked up at her, from the floor. He looked... still closed off, but not visibly hurt. She gulped and continued. "I—I don't know what I... could do to help... but... if there were something... I could do..." She stumbled her way through an apology. She didn't imagine he got many, and she knew that if she could help just one person have a better life than she'd had for most of her life, it would be better.

She looked at him, and stopped. He was smiling. Really, smiling. Not smirking, but smiling. "It's okay, Elsa," He soothed. "Really, just an apology is enough. Moon knows I don't get enough of that anyways."

Elsa's brow furrowed. "'Moon'? What's that?"

"The Man in the Moon. I've heard Santa refer to him as 'Manny', but I've always known him as the Moon. He's the one who told me my name, you know."

She paused, stewing that over. Firstly, the new name that had popped up: The Man in the Moon. She tried to think of any tales she'd heard of that, but came up short. Secondly, Santa? _The_ Santa Claus? The one who delivered gifts on Christmas Eve?

"Santa? You mean _the_ Santa Claus?" She asked, incredulously. At Jack's nod, she stood there, speechless for a moment. "Who else is there?"

Jack leaned back for a moment before drifting on the wind to fly around her chandelier. "Well, there's the Sandman—He's my favorite—the Tooth Fairy—She send little workers of her own to pick up the teeth. I've yet to see her pick up the teeth on her own in my life, though it could be that I'm just missing her—and the Easter Bunny... Heh, he's fun to mess with."

Elsa thought a moment. She hadn't heard of the Tooth Fairy, and the Sandman was rare, but still a tale she knew... The Easter Bunny was a little more known in Arendelle. Not by much, but he was known.

"The Easter Bunny? Who hides eggs in the Spring?" She asked Jack for confirmation again. He chuckled and nodded again.

"He's real. So is Santa. I've only caught a glimpse of the Tooth Palace, but I did a fairly good job of recreating it, I think."

Elsa's eyes widened and she looked around the room, as if discovering the pictures anew. "You mean these are all places you've actually _seen_?" She asked shocked.

"Well, yeah," Jack replied. "I'm pretty good at coming up with pranks, or new ways to have fun, but my imagination's not good enough to create all of these scenes."

She looked around and placed each scene as correctly as she could with the information she now had. The floating palace was likely the 'Tooth Palace' Jack had spoken of, and the place with the little eggs was wherever the Easter Bunny was, leaving the mountainous hideout to be Santa's Workshop. "Santa's got an impressive workshop," Elsa noted.

"I've tried to get in a couple of times. The yetis keep throwing me out though."

Elsa looked over at him sharply. He'd landed, looking at the frost mural of Santa's place with an expression Elsa couldn't place. She ignored it for the moment. It wasn't as if she knew him or his expressions well yet. "Yetis? Throwing you out?" She asked incredulously.

"Yeah. Not sure where the guy found him, but I haven't managed to get by them yet!" Elsa took note of the gleeful 'yet' and chuckled.

He glanced sideways at her. "What? I'll find a way. There's only one problem that's stopped me all these years, and it sure as hell ain't gonna be getting into that workshop."

His declaration only fueled Elsa's laughter, much to his confusion, and her amusement. He was determined to solve every problem he came across. Still curious, she opened her mouth to ask another question once she had finished laughing, only to be startled by a yawn. Quickly hiding it behind a hand, her eyes wide, she blinked a moment, blushing.

"Tired?" Jack asked casually. Elsa, still blushing furiously, nodded. Smiling, he rubbed his hands together and headed towards a corner. There, he began working with snow and frost, putting together something that Elsa guessed would help her sleep. It wasn't recognizably a bed though... beds were usually a rectangular, quite solid shape. This looked closer to a snowbank.

"What are you making?" She finally questioned, curiosity overcoming her. Her only reply was a chuckle, as he continued working. She took one step forward, only to be scolded back. Letting out an unqueenly 'harrumph', she crossed her arms and put most of her weight on one leg, leaving the other to tap slightly.

Finally, her impatience was ended. "Done!" Jack exclaimed, pulling back to reveal something she couldn't quite discern. Stepping forward—glad to have it be unaccompanied by scolding—she scrutinized it up close.

The blankets were identifiable easily enough, as were a couple of small cushions, but she couldn't tell what the main body of the whole thing was. "Jack... what is the main part?" She asked, confused. "I can tell the blankets and pillows, but the rest looks like a snowbank..."

Jack grinned. "It's one big snow-cushion. Kinda like a snowbank, only more supportive with a bit of ice and frost mixed in, just enough to keep you from collapsing through the snow."

Elsa's eyebrows raised, but she yawned again, keeping her from further comments. She heard the sound of Jack's staff tapping the floor behind her.

"You should get to bed. I'm amazed you didn't collapse of exhaustion earlier, you've been up all night, and well into the day. Get some sleep, I have the feeling you'll need it."

She nodded, slipping into the "bed" as she did so. It was surprisingly comfortable, most especially because it wasn't uncomfortably warm, like the beds at home were. The maids at home insisted in putting warm bricks in her bed, resulting in her staying up late doing work while she waited for the bed to cool. And people wondered why the Kingdom was so efficient.

"Goodnight, Elsa" She heard Jack say, somewhere near the balcony doors. She sighed contentedly as she closed her eyes and began falling asleep, feeling the safest she had since she was a child.


	5. Homesick for Memories

_**My brain has writer's block again! Rrrgh! The argument goes something like this:**_

_**Vasudha (muah, thank you very much): Lemme write more of a chapter!**_

_**Brain: No! I don' wanna!**_

_**Vasudha: Who cares? I want to!**_

_**Brain: You can't make me! puts writers block**_

_**Vasudha: WHY ARE YOU SO EVIL?!**_

_**Brain: Because I can. :P**_

_**...So as it is, I need a bit of help. Reviews will probably remove the writers block, and are much appreciated anyways. :)Thank you very much for taking the time to read!**_

* * *

Sighing, Merida leaned against the tree-trunk, staring up at the night sky. It had been about two weeks since she had fled the Castle of DunBrough, and still everything that had happened that night haunted her. That entire day haunted her. The last words she had spoken to her dear little trio of devilish brothers, the last words her Mother and she had screamed at each other, the last exchange between she and her Father... It was probably not something she would ever forget.

Maudie had said once that if something was on your mind, the best thing to do was to think it over, and "stick it where it belongs when you're done. If you don't, it'll go scuttling about your life and trampling everything in its path—just like those wee devils!"

Merida smiled at the memory, and quickly saddened at the homesickness that followed. She couldn't return, it would be in violation of everything she had done so far, and her Mother would only have a heavier hand on the reins of her life afterward. She was approaching her sixteenth birthday, and she knew that with her Mother suddenly deciding to make her perfect everything princess-ish, something that would bind her to the life her mother wanted was sure to follow. She held up eight fingers. Eight nights from now, she would be sixteen. Eight nights from now she would be of an age where her Mother would see nothing wrong with marrying her off.

Wouldn't have, that is. If Merida were still at home.

She sighed, and closed her eyes in pain, wincing at the headache and the ache in her heart that had followed her since leaving Scotland's shores. The flash of her Mother, screaming at her to behave more like a princess, particularly since she had managed to do everything a boy would do and almost nothing a "proper princess" would do during the entirety of the day. A glimpse of her reflection on the polished side of a claymore, the same one in the sheath at her hip now. A whisper of her Father saying "I love you. See you in the morning, my little warrior."

Tears ran down her cheeks, as she sobbed for all that she had lost. She had lost her family, and the familiar lands of Scotland. She had lost Angus, the best horse she'd ever had, and the gleeful, mischievous times where she and her brothers caused trouble. She had lost a Father who'd cared for her, and lost any chance of gaining the Mother who had sung her to sleep, and had forgiven her for the archery antics as a young child.

She allowed herself to brood a bit more on the subject before sighing and forcing herself to look up at the star-filled night. What had she gained? What had she gotten for her success in running away?

Freedom. That was the first thing that came to her mind. She had gotten freedom. What else? She had gained the ability to pursue game through the forest, to hunt rather than simply practice her archery on still targets. She had experience waking up to the beauty of a sunrise in a tree, seeing the ocean, and surviving on her own in the wilderness. She had seen a _dragon!_ She'd never have been able to see that if she had stayed at Castle Dunbrough!

Merida smiled slightly, some of her joy returning. She had felt better when she was with that boy—Hiccup. She had felt better, just talking to him. Being alone wasn't as great as it had seemed, and though it wasn't entirely bad, she was beginning to think that maybe she'd start talking to the animals for company!

Her smile grew wider, and she climbed the tree, getting as far up as she could, and catching sight of a wondrous treasure: the sky sparkled with stars like jewels in black velvet, popping out like diamonds. This would be a memory she would never forget. She might have been able to see this, if she had managed to sneak out, but she would likely never know. It would be one of the many things she had gained by fleeing to find her own path.

Her lids grew heavy, and Merida yawned. Knowing that falling asleep this high up in a tree was stupid—having done it once before and nearly dying—she climbed down to where the branches were sturdy and spread out a net between the two strongest, tying it to the two of them. Balancing most of her weight on the branches, Merida looked up at the night sky one last time before her exhaustion got to her, and she closed her eyes.


	6. When Will Adventures Begin?

_**Hey Guys! Vasudha here! Sorry it took me a bit to finish writing the chapter, things have been chaotic lately! I know it's a short chapter so far... but hopefully soon I'll be able to post more chapters. I don't own How To Train Your Dragon, Tangled, Frozen, Rise of the Guardians, Brave, or any Disney or Dreamworks creations that might appear in this story, as ever. (even if I wish I did)**_

_**A question: Who's POV would you like to see more of? Main characters, or a bit of the others (Mother Gothel, Rapunzel's Real Mother, Queen Eleanor, Astrid, Anna, Sandy, etc.) R&amp;R, please!**_

* * *

Rapunzel looked up at the afternoon sky, thinking of the colors she would use to paint it. A stroke of red here, a dab of orange there... the way it all blended together, painted by nature's hand, was so beautiful! Rapunzel just wished she could do something so beautiful one day.

Turning back inside, she looked at the clock on the wall. _Seven AM..._ She thought briefly before heading over to the window with the plants—when she pulled the dark red curtains shut, it looked like a small stage—she began to sing a song she'd been working on to help pass the time during her chores, while closing her eyes and reveling in the memories that followed the lines.

How every time, when she started the chores, she would climb up into the rafters until she deemed herself high enough, then would toss up a loop of her hair, catching it on a lever, which, when pulled down, would open a shutter to a window in the roof, and would provide a hook for her hair to allow her to slide down to end up right next to the clock.

** "7 am, the usual morning line-up,**

**"Start on the chores,**

** "And sleep 'till the floor's all cle~ean!"**

She giggled. The memory that accompanied that line was of her sweeping all the dust off the floor, and into the dustpan Pascal had held for her—accidentally getting half of it on him.

**"Polish and wax,"**

Rapunzel had put the scrub-brushes on her feet, a mop in her hand to steer, and Pascal drifted along on a brush of his own, her hair piled up on a table out of the way...

** "Do laundry and mop and shine-up,"**

Racing him up the stairs, her running up the stairs with her long hair dragging behind her, a basket of laundry in her hands. Pascal himself was climbing up the railing.

Another memory: Of herself dusting the candelabra, with Pascal standing atop the topmost candle, Rapunzel tickling him with her featherduster.

Yet a third, of her washing her hands at a basin, with Pascal swinging from his tail on the pump handle, grinning at her.

**"Sweep again,**

** "And by then,**

** "It's like**

** "7:15!**

**"And so I'll read a book,**

**"Or maybe two,**

** "Or three."**

She had had three books, one of botany with a brown cover, one of geology with a blue cover, and one of cooking with a yellow cover.

**"I'll add a feud of paintings**

** "To my gal-ler-y!"**

That brought back a memory of when she painted one of her wall murals, while Pascal hung from the part of the wall already dried, the palate of paints hanging from his tail so that she could have her hands free to paint. Her hair had been wrapped around her waist, and draped over the rafters, while she kept it from sliding and unwinding by hanging onto the end with her toes.

**"I'll play guitar,**

** "And knit,"**

Rapunzel giggled at remembering accidentally burying Pascal in a blue scarf that she just didn't stop knitting.

**"And cook and basically,**

** "Just wonder when will my life begin?"**

** "Then after lunch it's puzzles**

** "And darts,**

** "And baking,**

She had once carried five plates of chocolate chip cookies, two on each arm, and one on her head. She remembered it because Pascal had perch on the one closest to her elbow on her right arm, a cookie the size of his head sticking out of his grinning mouth.

** "Paper mache,"**

Apparently she shouldn't repeat her attempt at making a mask of herself. Pascal had run across the tabletop away from her.

** "A bit of ballet, and chess!**

She had spun around at an attempt at ballet, and had just wrapped herself up in her hair. She had still gotten his rook with her queen, though. Much to his surprise.

** "Pottery!"**

Pascal's tail was great at making patterns in vases.

** "And ventriloquy,"**

And it was funny to bob his tail up and down, with Pascal opening his mouth and shutting it like a nutcracker, while Rapunzel drank water to prove she wasn't making the noises coming out of his mouth.

** "Candle making!"**

** "Then I'll stretch,**

** "Maybe sketch,**

** "Take a climb,**

** "Sew a dress!"**

Pascal hadn't seemed as gleeful as she was when she'd made him a dress just like her own in his size.

** "Then I'll reread the books!**

** "(If I have time to spare)**

** "I'll paint the walls some more!**

** "—I'm sure there's room somewhere—"**

Rapunzel was painting the walls all the time. Now though, it was looking to be more like she would have to start touching up the paint on the already completed parts.

** "And then I'll brush,**

** "And brush!**

** "And brush,**

** "And brush my hair."**

For being 70 feet of loose hair, going all over the place, it was relatively tangle-free, much to Rapunzel's joy.

** "Stuck in the same place I've always been.**

** "And I'll keep wonderin'**

** "And wonderin'**

** "And wonderin'**

** "And wondering**

** "When will my life begin?"**

She opened her eyes again, and put down the guitar. It was doing pretty good so far, but she couldn't put any special memories to those last lines. Looking around the place, she'd found that it was only a couple of minutes later, but the sun was setting.

She headed over to the window in her tower. The colors of the sunset were so beautiful...

Yet also, so unattainable. It was too dangerous for her to go outside the tower, especially without Mother's protection. Who knew what could get her down there. Shaking her head from its unruly thoughts, she turned away from the window and began preparing for bed.


	7. If You Couldn't Change Your Fate

_**Vasudha has arrived! Sorry for taking so long to get such a short chapter! I'm working on the next one as we speak, and I was going to include it in this one, but it's a little too long and I wanted to update by tonight. So here we are, checking in with a parent. Sorry about the delay on updates, my schedules a bit busy lately. But hopefully soon I'll be able to get more time to update. Thanks for reading!**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Frozen, Brave, Rise of the Guardians, or How To Train Your Dragon.**_

_**Review please!**_

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Queen Eleanor sighed as she tucked her papers away for the night. Another day had passed since Merida had vanished. Another day in the two weeks since the girl had vanished from her room with no trace. The guards had been no help in that regard, since they had apparently fallen asleep on the job... She shook her head in annoyance. The incompetent fools were the reason why they couldn't tell if some skilled kidnapper had taken Merida, or if Merida had vanished on her own.

Eleanor paused to look out the window, towards the starry, moonlight sky. At least the weather had been gentle, either way, so that Merida hadn't had to deal with a stormy night yet. Eleanor worried for her daughter, no matter how skilled she was with weapons. It was a dangerous world out there, filled with war, with unimaginable creatures, with crime. Despite the fact that Merida constantly rode through the woods of Scotland, Eleanor didn't believe that she had a clue what could harm her beyond the animals of the forest. What if a human were to go after Merida? Would Merida be able to defend herself against that person, would she be able to kill? Moreover, would Merida be able to live with herself afterward?

As the days had passed, Eleanor's nightmares of everything that could happen to Merida that could go wrong increased. She found a new worry day by day. The triplets were being watched closer than ever, and their mischief was kept to a minimum. She had heard some of the maids wondering about this, because in their eyes there were two sides to the coin.

Sure, the triplets no longer caused chaos with their trouble, they never had a chance to. And true, they were safe, and home, and not out trapising the woods like their sister.

But their trouble hadn't often actually been harmful. More often than not, it had provided amusement for all, at the end of the day. Perhaps irritation during their pranks and plots, but not true anger. Many of the servants believed that their mischief might bring happiness to the Queen and King, as a sign that something had not changed.

And while Eleanor realized that what they said might have a grain of truth, she could not bear giving them a chance to be hurt... Like Merida. She couldn't bear having the chance that she might lose another one of her children.

Standing from the table, where she had remained long after the rest of the family had finished their dinner and business, Queen Eleanor slowly wandered over towards the boys' room, losing herself in thought. Losing herself in regrets.

_If only I hadn't pressured her into all those princess lessons,_ she thought. _She might still be here. The biggest thing I'd be worrying about is how princess-like she is, and not whether she's alive or lying dead on the ground somewhere. Or if she's being tortured. Or if she's starving, or slowly bleeding to death. Or dying of the cold. Or-_

Eleanor's head smacked into a support beam along the wall and she stepped backwards, a bit, shaking her had to be rid of the pain and the depressing thoughts. Hubert, Hamish and Harris didn't deserve to have a depressed Mother. They deserved a kind, loving mother, who cared for them, and didn't spend her time worrying about a child she couldn't do anything about. She needed to take care of whatever she could. And write now, the triplets fell under that category.

Sighing, Eleanor slowly opened the door to the triplet's room, relieved that the hinges had been oiled and didn't creak. The servants knew the boys well enough to keep it quiet. Better to sneak in and catch them at something.

The three boys were asleep, tumbled together in one of the three small cots in the room. As young as they were, they looked like a pile of puppies, or bear cubs. _Or fox kits._ Eleanor realized, with all the wit, mischief, and cleverness in them. The three could probably outwit a number of her own men. And she wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing...

Satisfied that they were sleeping safely, Eleanor quietly stepped across the room, making sure to barely make a whisper of a sound, so that she wouldn't wake them up. Once there, she looked up through one of the windows, looking up at the starry sky.

The sky was beautiful, the stars like jewels in the black velvet of darkness. It was calming, to see something in order, something put together, amidst the chaos that had occurred recently. Something was the same.

As she searched the stars, Eleanor prayed to whatever may listen. Fate, some God or Goddess, anyone, anything.

_Please, please... Just keep my daughter safe._


	8. Sticks and Stones

_**Vasudha here again! Sorry it's been so long since I updated, but it's been a little difficult working on everything on my plate AND this. So yeah, I'm back, and I should be updating a bit easier for now, since it's the summer. Anytime that I can get a bit of time squeezed in, then I'll work towards the next update.**_

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Hiccup groaned and flumped against the forest floor. Toothless came over and sniffed at his head curiously. "Sorry, buddy. Just tired, don't mean to worry you."

Hiccup sat up, scratching Toothless's head before the dragon bounced over to the basket of fish that Hiccup had dropped a few feet away. Looking around the hollow, Hiccup felt like he was being watched.

"Merida? Are you there?" He called out. For a moment there was silence, before there were giggles an the rustle and snapping sounds of cracking branches as Merida came out of some bushes at the top of the little hollow.

"Ye're gettin' be'er a' noticin' that I'm there, Hiccup!" Merida congratulated. "I' been watchin' ye fly about on yer dragon, and ye haven't even noticed I was there!"

As she chortled on her success, and started towards the entrance to the hollow, Hiccup rolled his eyes and sighed. He and Merida were becoming better and better friends, and while she was more of a fighter, and he was more of the scholarly type—or rather, crafting type—they understood each other pretty damn well.

Both of them had been rejected for who they were, and both of them had people attempting to mold them into something they weren't—which was, ironically enough, almost a reverse of what they were. If Merida was more like Hiccup, and Hiccup was more like Merida, then their families would be fine with that. Or if they had traded societies, they would be fine. _Merida could probably lead the Vikings better than I could, and she's a Scot! A Dunbroch! But if it weren't for that fact, they would love her, I know it! I don't know if her society would accept me, since I'm not only a Viking, but a useless one who creates lousy inventions and has no strength physically, whatsoever._

Hiccup sighed. He probably wouldn't be accepted by anyone. Not for who he was, at least. Toothless butt his head against Hiccup's hand, demanding attention. "Alright, bud, alright. Just gimme a second."

Suddenly, something solid hit his shoulder with a thump. "Ow! Merida..." Hiccup turned to find the grinning redhead was already at the floor of the little hollow, standing next to him. It was her fist that had hit his shoulder in a half-teasing, half-companionable punch that was a greeting. In some ways, Merida reminded him of Astrid. The two would probably have gotten along splendidly if it weren't for the whole Scot vs. Viking thing. Who knew, with the way that Merida was, they might even get over that.

Today, Hiccup was wearing his gear for training with Toothless. It was a little similar to his vest, a little similar to leather armor, and was lightweight. He didn't have any reason to wear it except to ride with Toothless, but it still looked a little strange.

"Hiccup, what are you—" The very voice he did not want to hear broke off upon seeing, not only a strange girl next to Hiccup, but a _Nightfury_, who _wasn't attacking. _Hiccup and Merida whirled around to see Astrid, ax in hand, staring at the whole scene, her eyes flitting around from Hiccup, to Merida, to Toothless. "Hiccup..." She cautiously began. "What is going on here?"

The question woke him up out of his shock at her finding the entrance to the hollow, but only a little. "Ah-eh-ah-uh—what?" Was his intelligent answer.

That seemed to calm Astrid enough for her to give her signature glare. "Who is that girl standing next to you, why are you dressed like that, and most importantly, why are you standing next to a _Nightfury_ that _isn't trying to eat you_?"

Hiccup winced. "Umm... weeeeellllll..." He drew out his answer, unsure of how to truthfully respond to the question without basically asking for a death-sentence from the girl. Unfortunately, this plan of action was short-lived.

Merida snorted. "What do ye think? That he's pickin' daisies with th' dragon, or goin' off an' dancin' with it? He befriended 'im, and found tha' maybe they aren't so bad after all!"

Astrid turned her glare to Merida. "I still don't know who _you_ are, so why should I trust you?" She demanded. Merida glared back in defiance.

"An' what would I have to gain from lyin' to _you?_ For all I know, ye could just be some outcast person wanderin' 'bout the island, lookin' to find a way off it! I certainly don't have anything to gain from lyin' to anyone, seein' as I don't know anyone 'ere but Hiccup, and I don' lie to my _friends _without a veeery good reason."

Toothless started growling at Astrid, since she and Merida had stalked toward each other gradually to glare each other, faces close. Astrid had come close enough that her ax was starting to really unnerve Toothless. Hiccup had long discovered that dragons recognized weapons, though not many Vikings used the traditional bow and arrow like Merida did. Most were using crossbows now. Toothless had still been wary of the weapons when Merida had come up close, but Merida had been spending a lot of time with the dragon, feeding him the extra stuff from her kills, and had proved to him that she was trustworthy.

Astrid hadn't.

And Toothless was looking ready to pounce.

"Toothless! Calm down, Astrid's a friend. We don't want to hurt her!" Hiccup exclaimed, jumping between the agitated Nightfury and the arguing girls. Astrid's unhelpful response was to lift her ax as though to attack, but Merida knocked it from her hand and tossed it away. When the ax was far enough away that Astrid probably wouldn't be able to get it soon, Toothless backed down a little, though he still growled.

"Hiccup, what are you doing? And why did _you_ knock my ax from my hand? Who do you think you are?" Astrid wasn't calming down much either, though, like Toothless, Merida had calmed down a little, enough to quit arguing with Astrid.

"M' name is Merida, for yer information. And what Hiccup's doin' is calmin' Toothless down so 'e doesn't attack ye. Hiccup and Toothless are dragon and rider, are friends. And Toothless recognized yer ax and thought ye were gonna attack 'im and Hiccup. How would ye like it if you saw someone comin' at yer friends with a weapon in their hands, and looking angry? Wouldn' ye want to defend yer friends too?"

Astrid still didn't look wholly convinced that Toothless wasn't a wild dragon that was about to rip her head off. Though, Hiccup supposed that that might be understandable, since she'd been spending her whole life fighting dragons who were attacking her village. If it weren't for the fact that he was a horrible Viking, he probably wouldn't have been able to befriend Toothless either.

Astrid started shaking her head and running towards the entrance to the hollow, and Merida didn't even bother trying to stop her. She was starting to scream, which seemed to be to Merida's and Toothless's amusement at that point. Hiccup huffed out an exasperated sigh. "Now look what you've done. We were supposed to make her _like_ us," he complained.

Merida shrugged. And Toothless sat up on his haunches. "Oh, well. Her loss." Unperturbed at the fact that a strong, Viking warrior was screaming and running away, probably toward the village to warn the others, the redhead wandered over to the edge of the lake, to see if she could practice her archery with the fish in the pond as targets. Toothless, for his part, shuffled over after her, probably hoping for a couple of fish from her. Hiccup hadn't grabbed any fish this time, since him bringing so much fish wouldn't have gone unnoticed by the rest of the Vikings on Berk. He was starting to fish with Toothless as they learned flying, ever since the particularly hilarious—From Merida's perspective, on the ground, not his—flight where he'd lost his cheat-sheet for Toothless's wing shape, and had to—no pun intended—wing it to survive.

Hiccup sighed and stomped over to the pair to see if he could find a way to fix the problem before it got too big to fix...

Astrid was running through the forest, not yet even halfway through. She was panicked enough that she was stumbling and having a hard time making her way through the forest. This might not have been helping from her point of view, but Hiccup thanked whatever had held her back because it gave him enough time to fix the issue between he and her.

He nudged Toothless into a dive toward Astrid, which the dragon gleefully obliged in, swooping down, plucking her up, and dropping her onto the top of a tree—All of this happening while she was screaming at the top of her lungs. Something along the lines of "Oh great Odin's ghost! This is it!"

—before landing on the thing and bending it over a bit, causing Astrid to dangle from a branch.

"Hiccup!" She yelled up, kicking her leg up to try and get it on the branch. "Get me _down_ from here!"

"You have to give me a chance to explain," He pleaded, his hands out to help her, yet in a begging gesture at the same time.

"I am not listening to _anything_ you have to say!" She snapped back, inching along the branch towards the trunk and dragon with rider.

"Then I won't speak," he amended. "Just let me show you," Hiccup continued, extending a hand to help her up.

When she looked away, he asked once more. "Please, Astrid."

She struggled up onto the branch, blowing her bangs out of her face and swatting Hiccup's hand away when she had succeeded. She reached a hand out to get onto Toothless, pausing when he growled at her, only to get up behind Hiccup, settling as safely as she could, noticeably with as little contact as possible.

"Now, get me down." Astrid demanded.

_Hoo boy, Toothless isn't gonna like that attitude_. "Toothless, down." Hiccup commanded, in a calm voice that he hoped would convey to Toothless that they should be nice. "Gently," he added for good measure.

The dragon opened his wings with a sligh flap, holding them out to either side. "See?" Hiccup turned back to Astrid, attempting to calm her down. "Nothin' to be afraid of."

Then Toothless decided to launchi himself into the air with as much force as possible.

"Waaaaaaaah!" Hiccup yelled oh-so-heroically as Toothless did so. Toothless continued to flap into the air as high as he could, climbing while at an almost vertical angle. It didn't help matters that Astrid was screaming.

"Toothless!" Hiccup scolded. "What is wrong with you? Bad dragon!" He laughed a little bit, half-heartedly, as Astrid righted herself by grabbing ahold of him. "He's—he's not usually like this..."

Toothless began the tilt to the side that signalled that he wasn't done yet. Hiccup looked down, resigned to the fact that the nightfury would _not_ be listening to him any time soon. "Oh no."

Toothless dived, as Astrid resumed her screaming, ducking beneath the waves a couple of times, much to Hiccup's dismay. "Toothless, what are you doing? We need her to _like_ us!"

Toothless only responded by climbing high into the air, and starting to spin around, causing Astrid to shriek again. "And now the spinning." Hiccup grumped. "Thank you for nothing, you useless reptile."

Toothless paused at the peak of his spin up into the air, to drop down again, still spinning. "Okay!" Hiccup heard Astrid yell behind him, as she curled into his back, scared witless likely for the first time in her life. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Just get me off of this thing!" They were tumbling toward the waves, probably going for more duckings.

Then, just like that, right before they hit the waves, Toothless snapped his wings open. Astrid shouted out in surprise, but there wasn't any more terror-tricks. Toothless decided to behave, and fly nicely.

As Astrid began calming down, Toothless calmly, slowly, glided up into the pink, fluffy, cottony clouds, colored by the sunset. Astrid, still panting with fear, opened her eyes, picking her head up off of Hiccup's shoulder, and uncurling herself from around him, looking around at the scene around them.

Hiccup had to admit it was beautiful, all this pink, fluffiness almost made him believe that there wasn't anything bad in the world. It was sunny and fluffy and pink all around them, and with a calmly flying dragon carrying them through it, it was probably one of Hiccup's happiest moments. He glanced behind him to see Astrid running her hands through some clouds they were passing right underneath, a smile on her face. A return smile began forming on Hiccup's face. It really was a happy moment.

Toothless spun around in a gentle loop, then flew up, through the cloud cover, into the starry darkness of the night. The Northern Lights dancing above their heads in greens and blues and purples. It was a sight to behold.

Toothless slowly glided along the top of the cloud cover, before coming out above Berk. The village in miniature looked nice, pretty, a piece of art. Nothing like the chaos that it truly was up close. Toothless glanced back at the pair, smiling, then kept facing forward. Astrid curled her arms around Hiccup, startling him.

Toothless flew down to glide around the carved stone beacons out in the waves that helped ships find their way toward Berk in darkness. It was wonderful. But everything good came to an end eventually, and Toothless began heading back towards the forest.

"Alright, I admit it," Astrid startled Hiccup a bit, by speaking for the first time since her apology. "This is pretty cool. It's... amazing." She paused, looking down at Toothless. "He's amazing." She admitted, reaching down to pat Toothless's neck.

"So what now?" Astrid asked, as they came down for a landing in the clearing. Merida was sitting curled up in her cloak next to the tree where Toothless usually slept.

Hiccup huffed, sliding off of Toothless's back. Astrid did the same, but didn't let the topic go. "Hiccup, your final exam is _tomorrow_! You know you're gonna have to kill—" Astrid paused as she realized the company they were in, pulling him close enough to whisper in his ear. "Kill a _dragon._"

Hiccup shrugged her off. "Don't remind me," he replied, heading over towards Merida, who had apparently been woken up by their conversation. The redhead rubbed her eyes and sat up.

"Wot are ye talkin' about? A final exam?" Merida questioned as they approached. Hiccup rolled his eyes. Was that everyone's focus today? He couldn't wait to get away. Though he was a bit amazed that he was going to actually give in to Merida's suggestion. He hadn't anticipated that at all.

Astrid sighed, still uneasy around Merida, but guessing that if she could befriend a dragon, she could befriend the Scot.

"He's got a final exam tomorrow. A final exam where he's got to kill..." Astrid petered off, not willing to say the word around Toothless, but also not willing to get close enough to Merida to whisper it like she had to Hiccup. Not when she didn't trust the redhead. She looked over at Toothless though, and hoped the message would get across.

It did, but not in the way she'd hoped. "A dragon?!" Merida exclaimed. "Hiccup, they can't maek ye do that!"

"They can and they will, Merida. As long as I stay here, they will," Hiccup sighed. "They're bigger, they're stronger, and all it will do is put me down again. I don't intend on staying here long enough for that to happen, though."

Merida paused a moment. "So ye're takin' me up on my offer? I thought you said ye weren't."

Astrid looked from one to the other. "..._What_ offer?" She questioned, suspicious. "What are you talking about..."

Merida piped up before Hiccup could do more than open his mouth to speak. "Me offer to help him escape this place." Hiccup winced at that. That was essentially what the offer was... but it was a blunt way to put it.

Astrid's eyes widened in astonishment. "_WHAT?!_ Hiccup, you can't just do that! You can't! People will—"

"Be glad that I'm gone?" Hiccup interrupted, wryly. "You know very well what I am. I'm the chief's unwanted son. A hiccup is a runt of the lot, and my very _name_ is Hiccup! I'm the disgrace of the village. Remember what happened just before the adults went off to find the Nest? When the dragons attacked? I did more damage than the dragons did! Without me, the village will be better off."

"Hiccup, that's not true," Astrid protested. "What about what happened in Dragon training? You kept taking down the dragons. You scared the Zippleback into it's cage during Dragon Training—" But Hiccup interrupted Astrid again.

"That was with the knowledge I gained by befriending a dragon. Vikings are supposed to fight dragons, and I just befriended them. Trust me, I won't be missed!" Hiccup exclaimed.

Astrid huffed. "What about your father?" She demanded.

Hiccup looked down at that. "The father who is constantly dissapointed in me? The father who just wants me out of the way? He'll miss me the least."

"Hiccup—" Astrid began, but stopped as she saw his expression, and huffed. "Fine, you want to do this? But I want to know _exactly_ who you're going with. I know Toothless, but I don't know this Merida girl, and is there anyone else going with you?"

Hiccup shook his head. "Just Merida and Toothless."

Astrid nodded. "Alright. Now," She continued, turning to face Merida, who was still sitting down, though she was now petting Toothless, who had come to sit next to her. "Who are you?"

Merida took a deep breath. "I'm Merida. I ran away from me home to find my destiny an' I haven't looked back since. I'm an archer, and a good one at that, I can ride horses well, and I'm Hiccup's friend."

Astrid paused, looking Merida over. "Where was your home?" She asked cautiously and suspiciously after a bit. Hiccup tensed a bit, wondering how this was going to blow over. A Scottish Princess was going to accompany him on his escapade. Knowing Astrid, the response would be anything but quiet.

After a moment, Merida finally replied. "The Dunbroch castle, Scotland."

The silence only lasted a second more.

"You're taking a SCOTTISH GIRL with you?!" Astrid yelled at Hiccup. He flinched, then rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Well..." He began, before Astrid interrupted him.

"Just how stupid _ARE_ you?! A SCOTTISH GIRL, and not only that, but probably ROYALTY?! Those idiots will probably assume that you kidnapped her, nevermind that even she could take you down easily, will probably kill you, and if any Vikings see you two, they'll assume that she kidnapped you on HER dragon!" Toothless began paying attention at that last part. "Either way, it's a stupid idea!"

Hiccup shrugged. "So was befriending a Nightfury. And that got me a friend."

Astrid huffed again. "You are impossible to reason with, you know that? What do you have, fish scales for brains? Nevermind, I don't want to know the answer. Do you have enough provisions?"

Hiccup was about to answer, but Merida spoke up again. "Yes, an' I have enough arrows an' enough skill t' make more arrows that I should be able to keep us fed should we run out of fish. Not to mention, Toothless had to live somehow, so I am fairly certain that he can hunt as well."

Astrid nodded, satisfied. Then she turned back to Hiccup. "Do you have any weapons? Nevermind, you with weapons is always bad," She turned back to Merida. "Do _you_ have weapons, and how well can you handle them?"

Merida nodded in agreement with Astrid. "Always a good idea to have weapons. I have me sword, me bows and arrows, the skill to make more, and I have enough skill to keep myself safe so far. Between me an' Toothless, Hiccup will be safe enough."

Astrid nodded after a moment, not really satisfied, but satisfied enough that she realized that there wasn't much more she could do. She turned to Hiccup, whom had made his way over to Toothless. "Will you ever come back?"

Hiccup looked to the ground. "I... I honestly don't know, Astrid. True, Berk is all I've ever known, but I've only ever been the outcast here. I might return, I might not. Time will tell."

Astrid nodded, biting her lip slightly in dissapointment. "Al-alright then. I guess this is goodbye."

Hiccup nodded, coming over and offering his hand for a handshake. "I guess it is. Goodbye, Astrid."

Astrid came forward, and took his hand hesitantly, shaking it a bit, then tugged him towards her. "Woah!" He exclaimed as she pulled him towards her for a hug. It took him a moment for him to realize that she was actually hugging him before he returned it. A moment later she pulled away.

"Ah-so-um—I guess this is it. Stay safe—don't die," That last she'd said scoldingly towards him. He shook his head and looked towards the sky. She spoke as if he nearly died every day. It might have been often but it wasn't _every_ day. "...And come back," she finished.

Hiccup looked at her solemnly. Astrid, for the first time ever, looked slightly worried. It was the most emotion he'd ever seen besides fiercy viking fury and joy at being a skilled fighter. He nodded, then watched as she headed out of the cove. He turned toward Merida.

"While Toothless might be hidden best by night, I'm not sure whether or not it would be best to leave now or tomorrow. You're the expert at this, so what should we do from here?"

Merida looked up sharply, then pointed at herself, as though he was asking someone else for information. "Well, it's not as if I'm the _expert_ at this... I've only run away once... but if I were to wager, they'll look for ye tonight. Best t' leave an' get away from here, rather than chance gettin' discovered. We're awfully close to Berk, given that ye c'n get there before sundown most days when leavin' at sunset. Close enough that we might be well hidden if no one's lookin', but now they're goin' ta be lookin'. We'd best leave and at least reach the other side o' the island before we go t' sleep t'night, an' it'd be best t' set a night watch—half th' night each."

Hiccup nodded, looking as fierce and couragous as he could—which was pretty fierce and couragous for him. He mounted Hiccup, and offered his hand to Merida, who grabbed the fish basket, took his hand, and swung up behind him, with her cloak on, her bow, arrows, and sword handy, and prepared for adventure as always.

This was it, this was him leaving Berk, the home he'd always known, the people he'd always known, everything and anything he'd ever known...

And had always chafed against, had always been horrible at, and had never fit in.

Perhaps it truly was time to leave, time to start anew. Perhaps there was a world out there... a world for him to explore.

It was high time he went to find out if that was true, wasn't it?

"Alright Toothless, let's go." He leaned down over his dragon, and felt Merida wrap her arms around his waist, felt the dragon bunch up his muscles, ready to leave.

As if a spring had gone off, the dragon shot high into the sky, pumping his wings to get higher and higher. Merida's laughter reached his ears as they flew up into the sky, and headed to the far side of the island, away from the village on Berk. They wouldn't have dragons, and it was nearing nighttime. They wouldn't be able to search for them for long. And in the morning, Hiccup, Merida, and Toothless would be gone.

He spared one last glance down into the clearing, and saw Astrid, waving at them. He smiled at the girl that was so out of character. Astrid seemed far more likely to be shouting battle cries at them and promising broken arms when they got back rather than waving farewell. He raised his hand in reply, then turned Toothless towards the far side of the island. His decision was made, he just needed to see it through.

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_**Reviews are welcome, as always. See you next update!**_


	9. Painful Ice and Happy Snow

_**I am back! And hooray! I updated sooner than last time! :D This is an extreme feat for me, one I wasn't sure I'd accomplish what with my noisy surroundings...**_

_**Anywho, I hope you enjoy the chapter! It's extra long and almost ended up 12 pages long instead of 8, but I split it, so the next part will continue to be written as Chapter 10. Enjoy!**_

—_**Vasudha**_

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Elsa awoke in an icy cold place, comfortably icy cold. This was what first told her as she slowly woke up that she was not at the palace, because the palace was never cold, they always assumed that it needed to be very warm for her to relax and feel comfortable, because of her powers. They assumed she felt like an ordinary person did, needing heat to survive. And perhaps she needed a little, but she didn't need nearly as much as an ordinary person did... like a human did.

She sat up in her snowy nest, and looked down at herself. She changed her dress into a nightgown, and gotten what sleep she could. She had taken her hair out of her braid, and her little snowflake clips as well. Her icy high heels had been slipped off, and put at the base of the little nest. All this, shortly before falling asleep, because, as with the dress, she had simply followed her feelings. The braid had taken a bit, but that was all.

The only thing she could think of, was that all of this disguised a monster. A monster who nearly killed her sister once, who probably nearly killed all of Arendelle. Who knew what she would do next? Freeze everyone's hearts, one by one?

She bent her head forward, and sobs wracked her body, and plopped against her nightgown. Despite being made of ice and snow, it felt as soft and smooth as silk. She paid attention to what she had subconsciously created, rather than how monstrous she was. It was a tactic she used sometimes to keep herself from spiraling too far into despair. To keep from hurting anyone.

But who could she hurt, besides herself? Jack? He was _the_ Jack Frost! He didn't have to worry about anything cold. Herself? It didn't matter, she was the monster. Who cared if she got hurt? Not her sister, whom she hadn't spent time with in years. Her parents were already dead. No one else cared for her.

She took a deep breath, and let herself think about everything she had suppressed over the years.

She was a monster. If it hadn't been for her, Anna would've kept all her memories, wouldn't have nearly _died_. If it weren't for her, her parents would've been able to focus all their attention on Anna, and all of them could've had a happy family life, rather than dealing with her powers every second of every day. If she hadn't been a monster, maybe things could've been happy, but she had been born a monster, and the coronation was a testament to that.

If Anna ever came, Elsa reminded herself to find the crown and leave it in plain sight, for Anna to find. Anna deserved Arendelle's affection more than Elsa ever had, and would probably find a good husband without Elsa intervening. What did Elsa know about Hans, after all? Maybe he _was_ the perfect guy for Anna? Anna always had been good at making friendships, with the staff, with people before the castle was closed off... Maybe they truly _had_ fallen in love?

It didn't matter anymore, Elsa just had to trust the servants to take care of Anna as she never could. Anna would be better off without her. With Elsa here on the Northern Mountain, she was close enough to help, if ever needed, or called upon, but far enough away that she probably wouldn't affect anyone while she practiced her magic. And if her powers got out of control, well, the whole mountain was snowy, and nothing would change.

Her tears slowly stopped. Maybe there was hope, even for someone as bad as her...

The memory seemed to slap her across the face, as she heard the recollection of a man saying "Get that bloody Snow Witch away from me! I don't care if you think she's harmless, she's unnatural! She'll be the death of us all!"

Elsa choked on air, as she remembered hundreds of other such sayings.

"What is that... thing, doing?" A lady asked.

"I think it's creating snow! And ice!" Another replied.

"Get it away! That shouldn't happen in summer!"

"Oh my goodness, I hope it never comes back!"

The sobs returned, worse than ever, tearing Elsa's breath apart. No one who had ever seen her powers had ever accepted her. They hadn't as a child, and they didn't now.

"She's a monster!" She remembered the Duke of Weselton exclaiming, pointing an accusing finger at her.

The shrieks, shouts, and exclamations from when she accidentally revealed her powers in the ballroom, nearly impaling Anna.

The slight memory brought the entire scene into her mind, picking apart at it, and sending her spiraling down into despair.

The minute the ice spikes had appeared, the Duke of Weselton murmured "Sorcery... I knew there was something dubious going on here..." While backing away from the spikes.

Anna, looking at her, hurt and confused, only asking "Elsa...?"

She had fled then, finding the doorknob, and fleeing down the hallway, only to burst out of the doors, to find dozens, hundreds of villagers, cheering at her, creating a wall of people she couldn't find her way out of.

And the moment her hand touched that fountain, the moment her magic froze the fountain in a twisted nightmare, the cheers turned to shrieks and cries of terror, as everyone backed away from her.

"There she is! Stop her!" The Duke of Weselton had shrieked at her from the steps into the palace."

She had tried to plead with him, tried to get them all away from her safely. "Please, just... stay away from me! Just... stay away!" But a burst of magic came from her hand, covering the steps in ice and knocking over the Duke.

She really was a monster, being unable to control her magic like that. She had nearly hurt several citizens of Arendelle, just in that moment.

And despite the fact that he had murmured it at first, she had heard it plain as if it where shouted next to her. "Monster..." the Duke of Weselton had declared her. "Monster!" He had shouted to all of them, pointing directly at her.

People had pulled away from her, hiding their children, and even as Anna called her name, Elsa had run, run away from everyone, run towards the fjord.

Elsa had stopped, confused as to where she could go, once she reached there, but once the ice had begun forming under her feet, she had simply continued running. Anything, to get away from Arendelle. She had stumbled and tripped a couple of times, but she hadn't stopped. She hadn't stopped until she reached the Northern Mountain, fleeing like the horrible creature she was.

She sobbed, choking them out, the tears rolling down her face, as she realized just how much she had done wrong. How could she ever hope to form a sisterly bond with Anna now, now that Anna had seen all that she was as a horrible Snow Witch?

Elsa wanted to live—desperately. She had a right to, despite the fact that there was little prospect of a future now. Rumors would spread, and people would gradually trust her less and less. It wasn't as if she looked like someone who could blend in just anywhere.

So where could she live now? It wasn't as if she could live off of just snow forever, she did need food to survive. She wasn't the type of person who could just live off of snow, like Jack Frost probably could...

She was useless, and unnecessary in this world. Circumstances had made that clear. So why should she stay? She might want to stay, but everything seemed to be conspiring to show her that she was an unwelcome guest, one who had overstayed any welcome she might have had. Who could want to be near her now?

Elsa sobbed, disaster wreaked upon her life, and upon her happiness. Anna had trusted her, naively, and her parents had tried to control her powers, unsuccessfully. Her own family hadn't been able to do anything. What was left for her?

Suddenly a pair of arms wrapped around her. A pair of arms in a white shirt, with a brown cape over them. A cold pair of hands rubbed her shoulders comfortingly, calming her sobs down to gasping breaths and watery eyes.

When she had finally calmed down enough, she looked up at Jack, meeting his ice blue, clear, and softened eyes with her own sorrowful ones. "There, there..." He soothed her. "It's alright. Everything's going to be alright."

And though Elsa knew that no, everything was _not_ going to be alright, she was willing to put aside the truth for the time being, and just be comforted by the one person whom not only could she not hurt, but who also wished to spend time with her.

Jack didn't know what had upset Elsa so much, but when he had flown in through the balcony doors, after a soft knock, and had seen her crying, something told him to comfort her. She had been bent over, her pale blonde hair cloaking her face, listening to her sobbing. The only thing he could think to do was to give her what he himself had wished for all 100 years that he knew of his life: a hug from someone who cared, and someone who would soothe him, trying to help him.

He himself might never have had this, but he would give it to Elsa. He could also give her the other thing he had never had: a teacher, to show her how to use her powers. He knew that they were at least a little bit different, or maybe there were things she had tried that he never did, so the chances were, that it wouldn't just be him teaching her. Chances were, she would be able to teach him as well.

All that mattered, was that she had someone to help guide her through actually learning to use her powers, rather than suppress them, as she had been apparently taught to do for so long. He had flown over Arendelle again after Elsa had fallen asleep, not needing any sleep himself. The freezing of the fjord and the cause of winter in Summer seemed very likely to be caused by Elsa, rather than anything else, benevolent or malevolent. What he was determined to figure out next, was whether he himself could reverse it.

He had tried chipping away at it, only to have frost form over it, and have more ice form. No steps forward, two steps back on that one. Then he tried absorbing it into his staff. About half a step forward at the most with that attempt. If he worked at it for a while, he wasn't sure whether it would tire him or energize him. It was tiring to focus so hard on absorbing ice and snow into himself, rather than making a winter wonderland, but it also energized him to get the power from the ice and snow.

But even if he did that, it would take him weeks to get any progress. He didn't have that time, particularly if he was going to try to teach Elsa how to use her powers without accidentally hurting others—something that he doubted many others could teach her, without getting injured themselves. She had a lot of tactics to unlearn, and many many years of hard-wiring herself to suppress her powers to undo. That was something that wouldn't come without cost.

So he had returned, to at least let her know what he had discovered so far, guessing her to be the type who would prefer the truth over a sugary, glazed-over explanation. Only to find her sobbing on the bed he had created for her.

So far, it didn't look to be too great of a day.

"Elsa?" He asked her softly, when she had calmed down a bit and wasn't hiccuping as much. She had been leaning against him for a bit of a while, her head laying against his chest.

At his soft query, she looked up at him. Her eyes were slightly red-rimmed, but they were dry, and a little clearer than before. Jack smiled gently. "Are you alright?"

Elsa nodded, and he slipped out of the bed, offering her his hand to help her up. With a sniffle and a swipe of a hand against her eyes, she accepted it, stepping on the ice floor, which still bore the frost of his earlier creations.

She looked around a bit, then turned back to him, and flushed. "Um, ah... Jack?"

"Yes, Elsa?" He replied, curious as to why she was blushing so much.

"I'm going to get dressed, so... if you don't mind..." She trailed off, and Jack blushed bright red.

"Ah, um yeah! Sure! I'll—I'll be right back!" He stammered out, and dashed out the balcony doors, embarrassed. He didn't want to intrude on her privacy! Just wanted to help her learn to control her powers!

Deciding to give her time to get ready how she wished, he flew around the Northern Mountain a bit, letting the Wind take him where it wished for the time being, and examining the beautiful landscape beneath him. Ice and snow everywhere, creating a gorgeous picture as they preserved the beauty of summer in some places, and masked it in winter in other.

But after a moment, the beauty wore off, and he realized just how bad this was for the area. An extra blizzard in Spring was one thing, but in the middle of summer? Would the plants even be able to fully recover? The ones that were frozen as they were, perhaps, but they might just have been killed off by the cold, and hadn't shown it yet because it was all frozen to a stop.

He flew lower, over a grove of weeping willows near a now icy waterfall, droplets of ice frozen in a teardrop shape on the boughs of the willows. "Wow..." He murmured as he examined the beautiful scenery. He wasn't the only one who found it entrancing, however.

The crunching of snow beneath feet and the tinkling sound of ice against ice lead him to a group of two travelers and a reindeer that was more like a dog than a reindeer. One of the travelers, a blonde man in warm clothing, looked at the frozen droplets of water with almost as much appreciation for it as Jack held. The reindeer bounced around, looking at the ice excitedly, and even sniffing it a bit, as though it were a treat.

The third traveler was a girl who reminded him of Elsa, though she had her hair in two braids, and had strawberry blonde hair rather than pale blonde. She wandered around with an innocent smile on her face, appreciating the ice, though in a different way than the man. The reindeer, having seen the man making tinkling noises by bumping the ice together, started jumping up and down and bumping its antlers against the ice, in a silly manner which made Jack chuckle softly, as the two travelers made their way to a frozen over lake.

Jack followed the two travelers, hearing the girl murmur "I never knew winter could be so... beautiful..." She was quiet, as though trying not to disturb the serenity of the place. Serenity that Jack knew was already disturbed by the reindeer that had bounced up behind her, willow boughs with ice droplets frozen on them tangled around his antlers, with a goofy grin on his face that Jack never thought was possible on a reindeer.

"Yeah..." A voice replied, a voice that was distinctly male, but Jack knew couldn't have come from the man since he hadn't moved his mouth at all. Jack looked around, to find the response coming from a small, animated snowman without a nose, who was walking around all on its own. He grinned in surprise. The little guy looked just like the snowman Elsa had created on her way up the mountain, with the exception that now he was moving around and talking!

"It really is beautiful, isn't it?" The snowman continued, as the two travelers looked first at each other, then at the reindeer, trying to figure out who was speaking. "But it's so _white._ How 'bout a little _color_? I'm thinking like maybe some _crimson_, chartreuse, how 'bout _yellow—" _The snowman dropped the grin as he realized what he had just said, countering it as the two travelers and the reindeer continued to look in the opposite direction for the source of the voice. "No, not yellow. Yellow and snow? Brrrbrbrbrb, no go. Ehehehe," The snowman walked up to between the two travelers, then looked at the girl. "Am I right?"

The poor girl's response was first a gasp, then a shriek as she kicked the snowman's head off, launching it into the man's arms.

"Hi!" The snowman chirped at the man.

"You're creepy," was his only reply, before tossing the snowman's head at the girl.

"I don't want it!" She complained, tossing the head back to the man.

"Back at you," The man continued, tossing it back. The snowman, meanwhile, was making sounds like grunts, and a faint "Don't drop me!" That had Jack giggling, as the banter continued.

"Noooo!" The girl whined.

"You know, it's just a head!"

"No!"

The snowman's body was wandering around aimlessly, trying to reconnect with it's head during all of this. "You know what, I think we got off to a bad start..." The snowman tried to plead with them.

"Ew, ew, the body!" The girl responded, tossing the only thing she had in her hands—the snowman's head—at the bumbling body.

It collided full on, knocking the body back, and sliding it into a snowdrift with a soft "Uff!" from the snowman. It picked itself back up with its arms...

And caused Jack to burst into hysterical laughter, since the snowman's head was upside down, the twigs standing in as "hair" splayed against the "neck", and a look of confusion forming on the snowman. "Wait, what am I looking at right now? Why are you hanging off the world like a bat?"

The girl apparently took pity on the poor snowman, and she told him to wait a moment, running forward to set his head upright again. "Oh! Thank you." The snowman replied, looking at himself to make sure everything was alright.

"You're welcome," The girl replied softly.

"Now I'm perfect!" Came the gleeful cheer from the snowman, as the girl chuckled slightly.

"Well, almost," She assured him, reaching over into a sack, and bringing out a carrot.

The snowman, unfortunately, turned around at just that moment to mutter to the man "It was like my whole life got turned upside down," And turned back around just in time for the girl to overcompensate force to put his nose in, resulting in the carrot going through his head, and poking out the other side.

"Wooooah!"

"Oh! Too hard, I'm sorry!" The girl winced, pulling her hands away. "I, I was just... are you okay?" She asked.

"Headrush!" The snowman exclaimed, before looking down at the tip of his nose, which was all that was showing. Jack could hardly breathe at this point, and what happened next didn't help.

"Are you kidding me? I. Am wonderful!" The snowman declared, bouncing up and down a bit, and looking over at the girl for a moment. "I've always wanted a nose! It's so cute! It's like a widdle beeby unicorn..." The snowman trailed off as the girl reached around quietly, and shoved the carrot forward until it wasn't sticking out the back of his skull anymore.

"Wow—hey—woah! Oooooh!" The snowman looked back at the girl. "I love it even more now."

The man knelt next to the snowman, and the reindeer came closer. "Alright, let's start this thing over," The snowman continued. "Hi, everyone! I'm Olaf! And I like warm hugs!" He turned to all of the group, then back to the girl, his arms spread wide for a hug.

The girl's smile turned to confusion. "Olaf?" She asked the snowman, studying him.

The snowman leaned closer, as if expecting something. A dawning realization formed on the girl's face. "Of course! Olaf!"

"And you are..." The snowman moved his arms up and down expectantly, causing them to creak slightly.

"Oh," The girl straightened up. "Um... I'm Anna." She introduced herself, as Olaf turned around to look at the man and the reindeer.

"Uh-huh. And who's the funky looking donkey over there?" He asked out of the corner of his mouth.

"That's Sven," Anna replied, gesturing slightly toward the reindeer.

"Uh-huh! And who's the reindeer?" He asked.

That made Anna pause a moment. "...Sven," She replied, not quite sure how to react.

"Oh, they're—oh! Okay. Makes things easier for me." Olaf jumped back as the reindeer—Sven?—darted forwards to attempt to grab the carrot nose. "Ah!" The snowman exclaimed. "Look at him, trying to kiss my nose. I like you too!" He talked in a babyish voice to the reindeer.

"Olaf..." Anna leaned forward, to ask him questions. "Did Elsa build you?"

Olaf turned to her to answer her questions, both arms straight out to the side. "Yeah, why?" The other traveler, as the two were talking, took off one of Olaf's arms, and began playing with it to see what it could do.

"Do you know where she is?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Do you think you could show us the way?" Anna was getting more and more eager.

"Yeah, why?"

"How does this work?" The man questioned, only to be slapped in the face by the detached arm, and have it snatched out of his grasp by Olaf.

"Stop it, Sven! Try and focus here." The snowman chided as he reattached his arm, then returned to his previous position. "Yeah, why?"

"I'll tell you why," The man interrupted. "We need Elsa to bring back summer."

_Uh oh..._ Jack realized. _Elsa doesn't have any control over her powers, and they're assuming she can just... put it all back together? No wonder she suppressed her powers and ran away when they broke free!_

"Summer..." Olaf whispered the word, and an excited look came over him. "Oooh, I don't know why but I've always loved the idea of _summer_, and the _sun, _and all things _hot_,"

"Hm, really?" The second traveler asked, skeptically. "I'm guessing you don't have much experience with heat."

"Nope!" Olaf replied gleefully. "But sometimes, I like to close my eyes, and imagine what it'd be like when summer does come..." The snowman sighed peacefully, then began singing in a happy, upbeat tune, in his own little world.

"**Bees all abuzz,**

**Kids'll blow dandelion fuzz,**

**and I'll be doing whatever snow does in summer...**

**A drink,**

**in my hand,**

**my snow up against the burning sand,**

**prob'ly getting gorgeously tanned,**

**in summer."**

With all the little gestures the snowman was making, as if what he was describing really was happening, Jack almost wished he could see what the snowman was imagining.

"**I'll finally see a summer breeze blow away a winter storm**

**I'll find out what happens to solid water when it gets warm...**

**And I can't**

**wait to see**

**what my buddies'll think of me.**

**Just imagine how much cooler I'll be**

**In summer!"**

At that point, Jack started to feel sorry for the poor snowman. What would summer really be like for the poor little guy? Not very long, that's for sure. And it didn't seem like he'd be the type who would be able to stay alone in the mountains, where he would be safely cold. Oblivious, the snowman kept singing.

"**Ba da! Da doo! Abubububububoo**

**The hot and the cold**

**Are both so intense,**

**Put 'em together,**

**it just makes sense!**

**Rrr-raht da-daht dadadadadadadada doo~oo**

**Winter's a good time to stay in and cuddle,**

**but put me in summer and I'll be a—"**

Jack winced, sensing that the correct rhyme would reveal the unhappy truth, when the snowman continued...

"**Happy snowman!"**

Jack smacked his palm into his face. The denial was blatant and strong. The poor little guy either didn't want to face the fact that he would probably melt, or really had no clue. Either way, this wasn't gonna end good.

"**When life gets rough I like to hold onto my dream**

**Relaxing in the summer sun,**

**just lettin' off steam...**

**Oh the sky,**

**will be blue,**

**and you guys will be there tooooooo...**

**When I finally do,**

**what frozen things do in summer!"**

The man leaned over to Anna. "I'm gonna tell him," He warned her.

Anna turned a glare on him. "Don't you DARE!" She chided.

"**In**

**Suuuummmeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrr!"**

Olaf finished grandly, ignoring them both.

After the song had ended, Olaf danced over to Anna, tugging on her skirt. "So c'mon! Elsa's this way!"

The party headed towards Elsa's ice palace, and against Jack's better judgment, he followed them, rather than heading straight back to Elsa.

"Let's go bring back summer!" Olaf declared, with Anna and Sven the reindeer running after him.

But the other traveler stayed behind a moment, looking a little lost. "Somebody's gotta tell him..." He stated helplessly.

* * *

_**Oh! And one more question: Which pairings would you perfer? I can't write same-sex, so any of that is out of the question (sorry if you wanted it! I just don't know how to write it!) But, here are the options that I can see. If you have another suggestion, just let me know! I'm open to think about everything, and while it might not be in this story, I might put it in another! ;) Multishipper and proud!**_

_**Options:**_

_**For Jack:**_

_**1: Jelsa (JackxElsa)**_

_**2: Rainbow Snowcone (JackxTooth)**_

_**3: JackxMerida (Not sure the name for that ship)**_

_**4: JackxRapunzel**_

_**5: Jack and Anna**_

_**6: Jack and Astrid**_

_**7: Jack and someone else (You tell me who)**_

_**For Hiccup:**_

_**1: Merricup**_

_**2: Hiccup and Rapunzel**_

_**3: Hiccup and Tooth**_

_**4: Hiccup and Elsa**_

_**5: Hiccup and Anna**_

_**6: Hiccup and Astrid**_

_**7: Hiccup and someone else (You tell me who)**_

_**For Merida:**_

_**1: Merricup**_

_**2: Jack and Merida**_

_**3: Merida and Bunny**_

_**4: Merida and someone else (You tell me who BUT NOT HANS)**_

_**For Rapunzel:**_

_**1: Rapunzel and Eugene**_

_**2: Jackunzel**_

_**3: Rapunzel and Hiccup**_

_**4: Rapunzel and Bunnymund**_

_**5: Rapunzel and Sandy**_

_**6: Rapunzel and someone else (You tell me who NEVER HANS)**_

_**For Elsa:**_

_**1: Jelsa**_

_**2: Hiccsa (Hiccup and Elsa)**_

_**3: Elsa and Bunnymund**_

_**4: Elsa and Kristoff**_

_**5: Elsa and someone else (You tell me who HANS MIGHT DIE THOUGH)**_

_**For Anna:**_

_**1: Kristanna**_

_**2: Jack and Anna**_

_**3: Anna and Hiccup**_

_**4: Anna and Bunnymund**_

_**5: Anna and someone else (You tell me who IF YOU THINK I AM DOING HANS YOU ARE DELUSIONAL)**_

_**Sorry for the long author's note, but please let me know what you think of the chapter, and which pairing you'd like! (Hans gets to die alone) See you next chapter!**_

—_**Vasudha**_


	10. Cracks in the Mountain Fortress

**_Here's the new chapter! I'm working on the eleventh chapter right away! I hope you like this one! ;)_**

* * *

"So, how exactly _are_ you planning to stop this weather?" The man asked Anna, as they traveled through some curves of rock that had ice spines shooting back from them.

"Oh, I am gonna talk to my sister." Anna replied, sounding as if that was the perfect answer to everything. Olaf was looking around at the scenery with a smile on his face and the reindeer plodded along happily behind the two travelers.

"That's your plan?" The man asked, his voice filled with disbelief. Jack almost stopped flying when he realized what the girl had said. Her sister? Elsa was her sister? So this was _Princess_ Anna? Oblivious to the flying winter spirit behind them, the man continued complaining. "My ice business is riding on you talking to your sister?"

Jack couldn't believe it. Anna was Elsa's sister? He looked at her a little closer. Her face certainly reminded him of Elsa, but her hair was a strawberry blonde rather than pale blonde, like Elsa's. Except for one blond streak that, with Elsa's powers and her panic over using them, Jack wasn't entirely sure was natural.

"Yep!" Anna replied to the man cheerfully.

Just as he went to reply, one of the ice spikes poked at his nose, since he hadn't been looking where he was going, and almost ran into one. "So you're not at all afraid of her?" He asked, looking pointedly at the spike.

"Why would I be?" Anna asked. Jack smiled softly. Elsa wasn't someone to be afraid of, she just needed a little help with her powers, rather than being forsaken for them.

"Yeah," Olaf agreed. "I bet she's the nicest, gentlest, warmest person ever," The snowman continued, ironically impaling himself on one of the ice spikes. "Oh look at that. I've been impaled," He noted cheerfully, and with a giggle.

Later on, when they were close to the tower, they stopped over by a sheer cliff, not noticing the staircase not too far ahead, but around a corner.

"What now?" Anna asked the man, as they looked the cliff face over.

"Mm..." The man thought aloud. "It's too steep. I've only got one rope, and you don't know how to climb mountains."

"Says who?" Anna replied, as the reindeer got the man's attention by bumping against his shoulder.

The man looked up at Anna, and sighed, exasperated. "What are you doing?"

"I'm... going.. to see my... Sister!" Anna declared while grabbing onto one of the holds on the cliff face, and pulling herself up a little.

"You're going to kill yourself," The traveler corrected. Jack had to agree with him. If she managed to get pretty high, and fell, she didn't believe in him. He couldn't catch her, and he doubted that the other guy catching her would help at a high enough spot. If she got up, however.

"I wouldn't put my foot there," The man advised.

"You're distracting me," Anna replied.

"Or there," he continued. "How do you know Elsa even wants to see you?" He asked. Jack wasn't even sure on this one. Did Elsa want to see her sister?

"Alright, I'm just gonna—I'm just blocking you out. I gotta concentrate here."

The man sighed and shook his head as Anna slipped again. "You know, most people who disappear into the mountains want to be alone."

"Nobody wants to be alone!" Anna declared, slipping again. "Except maybe you..."

"I'm not alone! I have friends, remember?" The man argued.

"You mean the 'love experts'?"Anna asked skeptically.

"Yes, the love experts." The man folded his arms, indignant that she wouldn't believe him.

Anna stopped climbing for a moment, breathing heavily. "Please tell me I'm almost there," She asked. "Does the air seem to be a bit thin to you up here?"

Jack snickered a little. Anna had barely gotten a couple of feet up. The other traveler shook his head. "Hang on,"

"Hey, Sven?" Olaf called. The traveler and the reindeer both turned to look at him. "Not sure if this solves the problem, but I found a staircase that leads exactly where you wanted to go."

"Haha! Thank _goodness_!" Anna shouted. "Catch!" She called out as she threw herself backward to be caught by the traveler. "Thanks!" She told the traveler as she patted him, then jumped out of his arms and headed towards the staircase. "That was like a crazy trust exercise."

"Woah," Anna admired the palace, once they got to the base of the stairs.

"Now _that's_ ice..." The man said, looking with amazement at Elsa's creation. "I might cry..."

"Go ahead, I won't judge," Anna answered, climbing up the stairs.

The reindeer tried to follow her, as the traveler simply stood, admiring the palace, but slipped, and collided its head with the stairs.

"Alright, take it easy boy, come here, I got you." The man soothed, as he came over the the reindeer, to lift him up and off the stairs. "Alright, you stay here, buddy." He commanded, before carefully heading up the stairs, admiring them all the way.

Anna, meanwhile, had reached the doors with Olaf, and held her hand up, as if to knock, but stopped. "Knock," Olaf said, "Just knock... Why isn't she knocking? Do you think she knows how to knock?" he asked the traveler.

Finally Anna stepped forward and knocked on the massive crystalline doors, stepping back in shock as they slowly opened. "Ha... It opened! That's a first..." She murmured. Jack wondered what that meant for the two sisters.

"Oh, you should probably wait out here..." She told the traveler.

"What?"

"Last time I introduced her to a guy, she froze everything." Jack spared a thought to think how badly that must've gone. Elsa seemed a pretty practical person, things must've been really big to make her freak out enough to freeze Arendelle.

"But—but—" The man complained, "Oh, c'mon! It's a palace made of ice! Ice is my life!"

"Bye Sven!" Olaf waved at the man, turning to head inside before being stopped by Anna.

"You too, Olaf."

"Me?" He asked.

"Just... give us a minute..." Anna requested, heading into the palace slowly.

"Okay," Olaf agreed, before counting in a whisper, to give her an exact minute. Jack paused a moment to look at snowman and ice trader before heading in behind Anna.

Anna turned around and around, looking at the beautiful surroundings, as Jack quickly flew up to let Elsa know that her sister was here.

"Elsa?" He called out. "Elsa! Anna is here! I followed her up here, she's looking for you!"

"What?" he heard faintly, before Elsa headed down the stairs opposite the ones he had thought she'd been up to see her sister at the base of one of the two stairs up to the landing.

"Elsa? It's me, Anna." Jack heard her call out, before slipping on the floor a bit, and catching herself.

"Anna..." Elsa trailed off, shocked at her sister's appearance.

Anna gasped, then smiled as Elsa stepped into the light, looking as beautiful as she had when she had created the ice palace. "Woah, Elsa... You look... different. It's a good different! And this place... it... it's amazing!"

"Thank you," Elsa replied, smiling softly at her sister. "I never knew what I was capable of."

"I'm so sorry, about what had happened, if I had known..." Anna began to apologize, taking a step up on the stairs. Jack noticed Elsa begin to stiffen as she did so, hurrying to stop Anna.

"Nonono, it's okay. You—you don't have to apologize. But you should probably go...please..." She pleaded, wringing her hands slightly, and stepping back from Anna. Jack frowned a little, concerned.

"What? But I just got here!" Anna exclaimed, confused.

"You belong down in Arendelle," Elsa explained patiently.

"So do you!" Anna replied.

"No, Anna, I belong here. Alone. Where I can be who I am..." She sighed, then turned back to Anna. "Without hurting anybody."

Jack looked between the two sisters. Was it possible that... at some point in time... Elsa had accidentally hurt Anna?

"Actually, about that..." Anna began, before being interrupted by Olaf shouting.

"Sixty!" He exclaimed gleefully, before running into the palace.

"Wait... what is that?" Elsa asked, looking at the sweet little snowman, running into the room to stop beside Anna.

"Hi! I'm Olaf and I like warm hugs!" He exclaimed.

"Olaf...?" Elsa asked, peering at the snowman carefully.

"Y... you built me. Remember that?" He asked cautiously.

"And you're alive?" She asked. Jack saw the hope blossoming. The hope that maybe her power wasn't so bad after all.

"Ye—ah—um... I think so?" Olaf replied in the way that he often did, naively honest in every possible way.

Elsa looked down at her hands in astonishment, as Anna continued talking to her. "He's just like the one we built as kids," She reminisced, kneeling down next to Olaf.

"Yeah..." Elsa agreed softly.

"Elsa, we were so close... We can be like that again," Anna pleaded, looking up at Elsa hopefully.

Jack watched as Elsa's happy expression changed to one full of fear. "No, we can't. Goodbye, Anna." And just like that, Elsa slammed the door shut to everyone else, folding her arms, and turning away to walk up the steps to the room Jack had been to.

"Elsa, wait!" Anna stood up, holding a hand out to stop Elsa.

"No, I'm just trying to protect you!" Elsa replied, continuing towards the stairs.

"You don't have to protect me, I'm not afraid!" Anna declared, following her."

"**Please don't shut me out again,**

**Please don't slam the door.**

**You don't have to keep your distance anymore."**

She sang, beginning to follow Elsa up the steps toward the main upper room, while Jack flew ahead. The fact that she didn't even notice him confirmed his guess that she didn't believe in him.

**'Cause for the first time in forever,**

**I finally understand!**

**For the first time in forever,**

**We could fix this hand in hand!**

**We can head down this mountain together!**

**You don't have to live in fear!"**

She paused at the top of the steps, a hopeful smile on her face. Elsa, meanwhile, clutched her hands to her chest, as if to prevent an outburst of her powers. But based off of his experience with his own powers, Jack guessed that while her hands were the main conduit, they weren't the only way that her powers would show themselves.

**'Cause for the first time in forever,**

**I will be right here..."**

Elsa turned to Anna, a pleading expression on her face.

"**Anna,**

**Please go back home,**

**Your life awaits,**

**Go enjoy the sun,**

**And open up the gates."**

"**Yeah, I know, but.."**

Anna interrupted, trying to persuade her sister to join her. Elsa wouldn't give Anna a chance to persuade her though.

"**You mean well,**

**But leave me be!**

**Yes I'm alone, but I'm alone and free!"**

She sang, going out onto the balcony with Anna, before turning to her sister, backing away, and heading back inside.

"**Just stay away and you'll be safe from me..."**

"**Actually we're not..."**

Anna pointed out, in a tone that belied that she didn't want to impart this information.

"**What do you mean you're not?"**

Elsa stopped and turned around, confused.

"**I get the feeling you don't know!"**

"**What do I not know?"**

Elsa stepped forward, trying to figure out what had happened. Anna winced, and continued singing, though sounding and looking like a child in trouble.

"**Arendelle's in deep,**

**deep,**

**deep...**

**deep...**

**snow..."**

"What?" Elsa asked, shocked.

"You kind've set off an eternal winter... everywhere." Anna continued, still wincing a bit.

"Everywhere?" Elsa repeated, as snow began to fall around her.

Jack looked up in shock, then looked back to Elsa. "Elsa..." He warned, pleading to whatever deity there could be that she would pay attention to him rather than to the crisis that was causing her to freak and her powers to spin out of her control.

"That's okay, you can just un-freeze it!" Anna chirped happily, as if everything could be solved easily.

"No I can't, I—I don't know how!" Elsa exclaimed, gesturing helplessly, as the snow came down harder around her.

"Sure you can, I _know_ you can!" Anna assured her, before continuing to sing.

"**'Cause for the first time in forever,"**

"**Ooooh...I'm such a fool I can't be freeeee!"**

Elsa sang, turning away from her sister, as the snow swirled around her in a whirlwind. Jack looked frantically between the two sisters. Things were getting worse and worse, and if Anna kept pushing Elsa, Elsa's powers might completely break free of her control.

"**You don't have to be afraid!"**

Anna persisted, trying to show Elsa that she was there for her.

"**No escape from the storm inside**

**of me!"**

"**We can work this out together!"**

"**Can't control the curse!"**

Elsa ignored Anna, looking at her hands like the tools of destruction she likely thought they were.

"**We'll reverse the storm you've made!"**

"**Oo~oo~oo~oh, no please, You'll only make it worse!"**

Elsa exclaimed, turning to Anna before turning away, looking at her reflection in one of the walls of her ice palace.

"**Don't panic,"**

"**There's so much fear!"**

"**We'll make the sun shine bright!"**

"**You're not safe he~ere!"**

She turned to Anna, warning her.

Still, Anna persisted through what had now become a blizzard within the room.

"**We can fix this thing together,**

**We can change this thing together!"**

Jack looked at everything, the snow that began to swirl around tighter and tighter around Elsa, at Anna, naively continuing and threw himself in front of Anna. If Elsa's powers were to strike out, she would want Anna to be safe above all. What told him this, he wasn't sure, it was like a instinct within himself he didn't understand. But he'd had this feeling before, and he knew it well enough to trust it.

**We can change this winter weather,**

**And everything will be alright..."**

"**I~I~II CAAAN'T!"**

Elsa exclaimed, as the ice formed around her heart, where her powers were centered, and struck out, hitting a wall of ice Jack quickly formed in front of him and Anna instead. He heard a gasp behind him, from Anna, but ignored it in favor of paying attention to Elsa and her powers.

Where Elsa's ice had struck his, a snowflake had formed. The same snowflake that had formed when she had first chosen where to put her Ice Palace the night before. He was beginning to think of it as Elsa's snowflake.

Elsa had turned around, noticing the slight cracking sound that often accompanied the formation and destruction of ice, and gasped at the sight of the ice in front of Jack and Anna. Before she could panic further, Jack stepped around it. "Elsa, it's alright! We're safe!"

Just then, the man came up, running to Anna's side. "Anna!"

"Who is this?" Elsa asked, holding her hands closer to herself. "Wait, it... it doesn't matter. Just... you have to go!"

"No, I know we can figure this out, together!" Anna protested, stepping towards Elsa.

"_How?!"_ Elsa asked, pleading. "What power do you have to stop this winter... To stop _me_?"

"Anna, I think we should go." The other traveler advised.

"No, I'm not leaving without Elsa!" Anna contradicted, stepping towards Elsa.

"Yes, you are." Elsa replied firmly, before reaching up and tossing her powers towards the floor, causing another, humongous snow golem, with bright blue glowing eyes. As Jack watched, it picked up Olaf in one hand, and Anna and the other traveler in the other, and took them down the stairs and outside.

He turned to Elsa. "Elsa, we were fine! It struck the ice it didn't hurt anyone!"

Elsa whipped around to look at him. "But it _could've_. I could've _killed_ both of you!"

"No, Elsa, you couldn't have. For starters, I put myself in front of Anna specifically because I knew you were losing control of your powers so that she _wouldn't be hurt_. And secondly," He reached out and grasped her hand, putting it against where his heart would be. "You couldn't have hurt me."

Elsa looked at her hand in shock, then looked up at his face. He had learned, from watching other spirits, and watching people, that it wasn't normal to not have a heartbeat. He didn't know why he didn't have one, all he knew was that he was surviving perfectly fine without one. He didn't think that meant that he didn't have a heart, since he could feel perfectly fine, but he wasn't sure what had happened when the Moon brought him up out of that lake. All he knew was that he had never remembered feeling his heart beat.

"Your... your heart..." Elsa murmured. He nodded solemnly.

"I don't have a heartbeat. Not to mention, I'm the spirit of winter itself. You _couldn't have hurt me_. That's why I put myself in front of Anna. Because even if I didn't bring up the ice in time, she still wouldn't have been hurt and well," He lifted the corners of his mouth in a sad smile. "I'm the winter spirit. I would've been fine."

She looked up at him, worried. "But what about Arendelle? How... how can we fix this?"

Jack smiled, glad that she trusted him enough to say "we" rather than "I", then turned his mind to the seriousness of the issue. "I thought you knew, otherwise I would've told you about the freezing of the fjord. But last night, I went down. I can't chip away at it with my staff, that just makes it worse. I might be able to suck it into myself, but it's a lot of work with very little success. I think the key is in emotions, since the source of both your powers and mine are emotion. I don't know which emotion though. Just about any emotion can create ice and snow. Fear, anger, Happiness, sadness. The key is figuring out which will melt it, or draw it back into yourself. And while I'm sure that a couple of emotions could be keys to both ways, I haven't tried it myself. Do you know of anyone who might know how to fix this?"

Elsa thought a moment, biting her lip. "Maybe... maybe the trolls..." She murmured.

"The what?" Jack asked. He wasn't entirely sure he'd heard her correctly.

"The trolls," She repeated, louder this time. "I... I never told you about how I ended up concealing my powers. When... when Anna and I were children, I used to use my powers all the time. She would wake me up in the middle of the night sometimes... so that no one would bother us..."

Elsa continued, though sounding forlorn. "One night, she woke me up, and we went down to the ballroom to play. I created snow and we had tons of fun. We created Olaf, though without any life since my powers weren't _that_ strong at the time, and we were so happy..."

She frowned, and folded her arms, bringing her hands closer in to herself. "Then Anna started jumping from snow drift to snowdrift as I created them, and I accidentally made them start to go higher and higher... she was going to fast, and, and—"

Elsa was starting to panic now, and frost was forming from beneath her feet. It didn't seem to help her, and Jack put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her. "I slipped. On the ice that I had created. And when my magic shot out... it hit Anna on her head. She stopped moving, went unconscious, and a streak of hair turned blonde like mine."

Jack's eyes widened in shock. No wonder she had been so scared of her powers! He might have been too, if that had ever happened to him. He turned her around, putting both hands on both of her shoulders. "Elsa. It's okay. It's okay now. Elsa."

Elsa hesitantly turned her eyes up from her hands to meet his eyes. "Elsa, it's alright. I'm here to help, however I can. Though really," He pulled away and gestured at the ice palace. "It looks like we'll be teaching each other. And it's amazing how you created Olaf!" He exclaimed, turning back to her. He was relieved to finally see a small smile on her face. "Your power is not a curse. It is a gift, and though you might not have been taught how to use it before, I can teach you how to use it a bit, and you can teach me some of the amazing tricks you can do, alright?" He winked, and was rewarded with a giggle. _Hallelujah! I can succeed in making her laugh! What kind of person would I be if I couldn't make the only other person like me smile?_ He thought to himself.

Elsa dropped her hand from her mouth, since she had hidden her laughter behind her hand. "I guess... I guess it's a deal," But then she sobered. "But that's not all the story."

Jack grew more solemn, and took both her hands, coaxing them out of the crooks of her arms. "Elsa, I'm right here for you. If you don't want to tell me, you don't have to. And if you just need some time to calm down, to relax, or feel happy, I can do my best to help with that. You just have to say the word."

She took a couple of deep breaths, then continued. "I called for our parents, and when they came, she felt ice cold to them. My father... he found a book that guided us to the trolls, and they... they replaced her memories. They wiped all trace of my powers from them, making it seem like just times we had fun during winter. And then they gave me a warning:"

She took a deep, steadying breath, and Jack paid attention, making sure to listen to everything. "The troll that seemed to be the leader, he said: 'Your power will only grow stronger. There is beauty in it, but also great danger. You must learn to control it! Fear will be your enemy.'"

Elsa looked up at Jack, and he saw how badly the words haunted her in her eyes. "After that, my parents reduced the staff, closed the castle off to the outside world, and when we discovered that gloves controlled my powers somewhat, I started wearing gloves."

Elsa stepped away from him, pacing around the room, growing taller. "My father taught me 'Conceal it, don't feel it, don't let it show. It's worked so far, and I stayed away from Anna, because there were times when it spread through my feet and shoes, and we weren't sure why through shoes, but not gloves..." She turned to him, with a half-smile. "But hey, it worked, didn't it?"

Jack stepped forward. "Elsa... that's not controlling your powers, that's _suppressing_ them!"

Elsa whirled and stepped towards him. "What else could you have proposed? My father is _dead_ now, along with my mother, and they were the only ones who ever bothered trying to help me with it!"

Jack's anger grew, and between Elsa's and his anger, snow began to whirl around them, and ice and frost formed around them. "Oh, so I never tried to help you with your powers? I've been trying to find out how the whole time I've _been_ here! I guess I really matter that little to you, don't I?"

Elsa snarled at him. "You just showed up and assumed you knew everything! You can't even undo what I've done!"

"Neither can you!" He shot back, the snow becoming a swirling blizzard around them.

"What do you know of what I should do?! She demanded of him, her hands clenched into fists at her sides.

"You need to stop hiding your feelings!" He warned her.

"It's all I know!" She fumed, bringing a hand to her chest.

"You can't stay like this forever! Elsa, things can _never_ stay the same way forever." Jack pleaded. All he wanted to do was help her.

"If you feel that way, then leave." Elsa commanded.

The snow stopped where it was, dropping straight to the floor as Jack full understood what she had just said. "What?" he asked.

"_Leave!_" She yelled at him, throwing an ice spike in his direction, he backed up a step, more and more as she tossed more ice spikes his way, until he took off on the wind, leaving the palace behind.

He turned towards where the huge tracks in the snow belied a fight, to see if he could figure out what Anna and her traveler friend's plan was, the sound of Elsa's sobs on the wind creating cracks in his heart that he didn't know could exist.

* * *

_**Okay... so maybe I should've warned you about the feels train coming by. But what good author gives spoilers? Working on the next chapter as you read this, so I guess I'll see you next time!**_

_**-Vasudha**_


	11. The Dangers of Dragons

Merida blinked awake and looked at her sunlit surroundings. Or, not completely sunlit. It was just past dawn, but it was bright enough that she could see everything around her, including the short viking who was curled up against his dragon.

She blushed slightly, feeling a slight flutter in her heart at the sight of him curled up rather adorably, then promptly told her heart to shut up, grabbed her bow, and headed off to get some food for breakfast for the two or three of them. She glanced back at the dragon, wondering if she should hunt for it, then shrugged, deciding against it. Hiccup could take him out later, and Toothless might like the entrails, for a snack to tide him over until he could go hunting.

She pulled her cloak closer around her, shivering slightly. Berk was north of Scotland, so she wasn't used to the cold like Hiccup had seemed to be, but she had come prepared with a warm cloak, and had learned how to make a bow, and how to make arrows before she left, so that she would be prepared. The only thing she needed to worry about now was finding a place to sell her furs from her kills, unless they went somewhere warmer.

It was summer! She had never been someplace so cold! It _hailed_ during summer! What kind of place did that? And what kind of people decided that was a good place to _live_?!

She huffed, blowing a lock of hair out of her face, and headed towards the stream. That was the easiest place to find a lot of food and not waste many arrows. Not to mention, she felt calmer while wielding a bow.

Pulling off her cloak and shoes, so that they wouldn't get waterlogged, she carefully stepped out into the stream, perching herself one of the rocks that peeked out of the water the most. Watching carefully, she noticed trout swimming past. Not as much as there would be during spring and fall, but more than during winter.

Carefully taking aim at the slow fish, she fired off an arrow, hitting her mark as if it were a bullseye. This this was what made her proud. This was what calmed her down. Not _marriage_, as her mother had proposed, nor anything about being a _princess_... just a bow and arrow, and a mark to hit.

By the time the sun was completely up, Merida was heading back to camp with seven trout, and gathering some wood along the way for a fire. The fish were plump, her boots warm compared to the icy river, and her cloak kept her nice and comfortable against the wind, though she didn't have to pull it so closely around herself, now that the sun was up and warming the area somewhat.

When she arrived back at the camp, Hiccup was awake, and Toothless was waking up, at Hiccup's insistence. Merida chuckled a little. She doubted the nightfury was used to waking up this early.

"I got us some breakfast," Merida announced as she came close enough to be heard by the two, without being heard by anyone nearby. "I don' know if 'e needs to go huntin' for 'is own food, but just in case, I got enough fish t' tide 'im over until then."

Hiccup looked surprised. "You got fish? How? I don't see any spears or fishing line on you. You… you didn't use your arrows, did you?' He asked, curious.

"M' bow _and _ m' arrows, aye," Merida corrected smugly. "An' it's be'er than fumblin' around, lookin' fer a way t' survive off o' th' supplies you brought. Those won't feed all three o' us!"

Though Merida had to admit, given what she had heard of his situation in the village, it seemed a bit of a miracle that he had gotten even that much.

Hiccup huffed. "I had to get some other things, including some of the tools to maintain Toothless's saddle and tail, and the books and notes I have that gave me the understanding that dragons can be friends, and how to communicate with them."

Merida tilted her head. "Ye mean tha' li'l book I've seen ye carryin' around?"

He shook his head in response to her surprise. "No, not just that. The Book of Dragons as well. I made a copy, with some edits in it, about dragons and how they are different than we thought, to both try to show them that dragons can be allies, and to confuse them, buy us time."

Merida was a little startled that he had strategist this so much. These were the people he had known all his life, and he was doing his best to confuse them so that he could leave them easily. It was more than a bit of a shock that he would, in a sense, turn against them so easily.

To cover up her shock, she began setting up a fire to cook the fish. While she had left in the middle of the night, and left on horseback to where a small rowboat was, brought supplies for herself, and sent Angus, her beloved horse _back_, that was all she had done to confuse the family and friends she had left behind. Then again, they cared about her. They were trying to do what was best for her... even if it wasn't best for her. They at least had been _trying_. The people in Hiccup's village _only_ cared if he changed to someone he wasn't! That wasn't fair to him!

She glanced at Hiccup, who seemed to be a little depressed. "Hiccup?" She spoke softly, getting his attention. "Are ye alright? Ye do know that Toothless an I are here if ye need some support an' comfort. We're yer friends and we care about ye," She paused, taking in his slightly brighter expression. "Hiccup, if ye want to go back or go forward, it's your choice. But the one thing that I will bug ye about is that one way or another, ye'll have to step out o' yer comfort zone, an' either travel th' world t' find yer home, or _make_ Berk yer home, by stepping up to change it. Either way, I'll stay yer friend an' visit ye when I can if ye choose t' stay."

Hiccup smiled, though the smile looked a little strained, in Merida's opinion. _He's so used to people overlooking him an' his feelings that he can't hide 'em when people __**do**__pay attention._Before she could tease him about it, in an attempt to distract him somewhat, he spoke up.

"No, I... I think it's best if I go. It's not as though I lead an extremely important role in Berk. Anyone could be the blacksmith. The biggest change I give to the village was accidentally destroying things whenever I tried to help. As Gobber put it 'putting your mark in all the wrong places.' I didn't make many people happy.

"So honestly, the only ones who will miss me for anything other than being a target, will probably be my Dad and Gobber, maybe even just Gobber. It would be better for everyone involved.

"I'm not a dragon killer. I never have been, and I won't try to make myself be one. Not with Toothless as a friend. Not when I know now that everything we thought we knew about them was wrong."

They both fell silent, staring into the slow flames, and the fish that cooked over them. Merida tossed a few fish to Toothless, who snatched them out of the air hungrily, before looking at her with big eyes, licking his lips, hoping for more. Merida smiled, and started laughing at the gleefully greedy dragon, hoping for more food. Hiccup chuckled at the dragon as well after a bit, scratching the back of the dragon's neck affectionately.

"Being a big dragon with long flights means you have a big stomach, don't you, buddy?" He teased Toothless, who grinned with his teeth sheathed, a silly grin which had, in part, given him his name. Merida smiled at the two, who were behaving as they had in the cove, when Hiccup was telling Merida how the two learned to interact with each other.

"Well then," Merida retorted cheerfully, with clearly feigned annoyance. "The big dragon can feed himself, if he is so fierce an' hungry. The bow an' arrow can only feed so much."

Toothless, in response, dove down, flipping over at her feet, doing his best to look adorable to persuade her to feed him. "Aw, wee lamb, are ye?" Merida asked him sweetly.

Toothless smiled, and his ears perked up, which looked adorable, but she knew from experience with her brothers that cuteness wasn't often all there was to someone, and someone who knew they were cute was usually clever and mischievous enough to use it to their advantage.

"But ye can't be a big dragon if yer a wee lamb," She pointed out contrarily. Toothless looked affronted, as if to say, 'Of course I can, I'm toothless!' Which made Merida laugh. There were days when she imagined that no one in the world could top this dragon's ego, which would have been big for a dragon twice his size.

Hiccup laughed with her, then replied "If anyone can do it, Toothless can. I've never seen a dragon switch from fearsome to adorable so quickly, not even the Terrible Terrors, though they come close."

Merida lifted any eyebrow quizzically. "The 'Terrible Terrors'? What on the Earth are those?"

"I forgot, you don't read Norse," Hiccup replied, apologetically. "The Book of Dragons that I brought with is the outdated copy, the one that says to kill rather than befriend. Still, it has some good information. Well, at least, a good start.

"The Terrible Terrors are little guys that don't cause much harm—on their own. They're adorable little creatures, which are only an issue if you _seriously_ let your guard down, which one of the twins did. He didn't really like the dragon chewing on his nose, but it didn't hurt him much, he was just over dramatic about it. Really, they only are a big problem if they're in a pack—which, of course, they usually are. Then you have it all coming after you, and a little bit of damage stacks up. Kinda like a... a..."

"A bee-hive?" Merida interjected.

"Yeah, I guess. That's probably a very apt way to describe it. It's a bee-hive. Not a lot of problem on their own, but hard to deal with just one when they're all causing trouble."

Merida thought about it a minute. That was a good way to think about the dragons, but she figured they were bigger than bees. The bees of the draconic world then? After a bit, the smell of slightly burning meat called her attention to the cooking fish. The fish that were currently starting to burn.

In a rush, she took the fish off of the fire, along with Hiccup's help. "Sorry about that," The young viking apologized as she and he worked together to check and see that none of the fish had been badly burnt. Fortunately, most of them were just fine, and if they weren't fine dining, they were at least travel worthy, and Merida separated out a few for her and Hiccup to eat, a few more for Toothless, and wrapped up the rest for provisions.

"Do ye know any good plants around here?" Merida asked wincing at her accent, compared to Hiccup's lack of one. Or, she supposed, different one. But his voice was clearer than hers, with her rolled "r"s and lilting tone.

Hiccup thought a moment. "Kinda hard to find any edible or medicinal plants around here. There's some blackberries, maybe some onions around here...uh... I think I've seen some wild celery around, not any of the cultivated stuff we hear the English having... um..."

"Do ye have any honey?" Merida interrupted. She knew that the land would be sparse, but she had been hoping that it hadn't been quite _that_ sparse. Honey, at least, would still have a chance of being there, no matter how sparse that chance was. And since it was a good way to keep wounds from festering, she wasn't going to leave very willingly without it. Just herself, she had a small store of honey, but that would only last for so long. She wanted to add a bit more to the store before moving on to the next place in their travels. Who knew if they'd be able to get ahold of honey there? Best to give it a try when they could.

Hiccup shook his head. "Not much. I remembered Gothi using honey sometimes in some wounds, to keep them from festering or getting infected, but it wasn't often that I saw it, so I wasn't sure how much to take. I only took a little... will it do?"

Merida looked up from the sack, where she was tidying things up, preparing their things for leaving. "Ye do? About how much?"

Hiccup shrugged in reply. "About one honey-comb's worth. Will that be enough?"

Merida nodded. "It'll do for now. Alright, so I think we've got—"

The snap of a twig interrupted her, and their heads all swiveled towards the sound. Hiccup and Merida inched slowly and carefully towards Toothless, ready to flee the moment they saw any Vikings.

Of course, all of this preparation and fear was useless when the only thing that had caused the rustling and twig-snapping was small rabbit.

Merida and Hiccup relaxed, sighing at the same time, and Merida tipped her head back in frustration. They needed to leave soon before the Vikings found them. Of course, they would reprimand Hiccup, but what would they do to her, a Scot? A Scottish _princess_ at that? Ooooh... she didn't want to take any chances with that.

A crunch interrupted her thoughts, and Hiccup scurrying over towards Toothless's mouth directed her attention to the source. "Oh, Toothless. Did you stuff that thing in your mouth _whole_?!"

Merida did her best to stifle her laughter, some giggles escaping out between her fingers as she began to double over, her hands cupped over her mouth. Hiccup glared at her, but that was about as useful as a wee lamb from the shepherd's flock doing the same, worsening her laughter until she really couldn't hold it back much at all.

Hiccup huffed, annoyed and frustrated. "You really aren't helping, you know that?" His telling her so only made her chortle harder, beginning to snort as she did so. Eventually even Hiccup started laughing, and Toothless was left looking between the two of them like a pup caught in the middle of a ridiculous rule-breaking, unsure of whether to wag its tail, or tuck it between its legs.

It took a while for Merida and Hiccup to calm down from laughing so much, during which time, Toothless was happily crunching and gulping down the rabbit still in his jaws. It hadn't been alive long, that first crunch had taken care of that, but Merida still felt some pity for the poor fluffy thing. A dragon's mouth was a fearsome thing, and being eaten was probably a terrifying experience.

Once they did calm down, they checked to make sure Toothless was fine, and wasn't hurt by eating an entire rabbit. Given how he ate fish whole, Merida was fairly sure that he was fine, but she agreed with Hiccup that it would be a good idea to make sure. After all, that was an _entire rabbit_ that he had eaten, claws, teeth, bones, and everything. She could see why Hiccup was worried that Toothless might have hurt himself, though that was a worry that was demolished after Toothless deliberately turned to Hiccup, caught his attention, then blasted him with a slightly fiery belch.

Merida snorted a bit at that. "Ye know, ye kind of asked for that," She pointed out as she straightened the packs and made sure they had everything.

"I was only making sure he was healthy, which would be kinda important for all of us," Hiccup retorted, as he made his way over to the charcoal remains of the fire, sneaking some pieces of charcoal before smashing the remains up and scattering them. Merida shook her head.

"Maybe from his point of view, ye were doin' nothin' but pokin' and proddin' him. Not somethin' anyone'd like, I'd think." She replied, before standing up, satisfied that everything was packed properly.

The majority of their possessions were on Toothless's back, in small, neatly arranged packs that were on the top of his back, between his wings so that they wouldn't cause a problem with his flight. The three small packs that Merida had brought with became incredibly useful, seeing as the fishing basket Hiccup had originally brought, though capable of holding a lot, was bulky, and would have caused problems with their flight. So they had the food in one pack, Hiccup's stuff in another, and Merida's in the third.

Ignoring Hiccup's grumbled response to her earlier point, Merida rearranged her bow and quiver, which she had kept on her person, just in case. "Oy, Mr. Viking," She called back to him as she headed towards Toothless's front legs to mount to fly. "We should probably get a move on, before the search parties get here," She pointed out, getting his attention.

Hiccup sighed. "I dunno that they'll actually search for me, but leaving here is probably the best thing to do anyways. The sooner we get a move on, the sooner we'll be able to get more supplies. Those will only last us so long."

He hurried over to Toothless, mounting the dragon before helping Merida up, and Toothless shoved off from the ground, eager to get into the air. It seemed as though the dragon was enjoying the adventure immensely, and was even happy enough to take them up into the clouds—with some tricks on the way up of course.

Merida laughed, giddy from the loops and turns that Toothless had done on the way up. She noticed Hiccup had chuckled a little too, before turning his attention back to the skies and towards flying. He was still learning how to change the shape of the prosthetic tail-wing to the shapes that Toothless required to fly.

Merida looked around, surprised at the fluffy beauty of the clouds that they passed, though some of the patches of the ground below showed in between. The air was quite a bit thinner up here—not to mention colder—but she managed by doing her best not to move too much, taking slow, deep breaths, and staying close to Hiccup and Toothless. The dragon positively _radiated_ heat.

The clouds that they could see were white and fluffy, and completely peaceful. It was beautiful, and Merida almost wanted to stay up there, and try and live there forever. It certainly would mean that she wouldn't feel like she'd have much to worry about.

Unfortunately, a mix of the realization that she couldn't possibly live up in the clouds, and the parting of clouds over a particular village, ruined that daydream.

"Merida," Hiccup turned his head to catch her attention. "Down there's Berk. Are you seeing the same thing I'm seeing?"

The moments between clouds gave them glimpses of scurrying people between artful, new-looking buildings, and since there was almost no wind besides that created by them flying through the air, they could hear some of the shouts, too. Pieces of shouts including "have you found the chief's boy yet?" or "Do ye know where the troublemaker has gone now?" floated up. The worst was when Merida heard someone yell "Have you seen him... the one who was doing so well in dragon training... pity he's fallen into old habits..."

Merida looked up from Berk at Hiccup, who's face seemed to be attempting to become stony, yet failed miserably, revealing his pain and sorrow to her. He was hurt that the only reason they were looking for him was the same as ever, not because he was the star boy at the dragon training, no. It was only because he was the chief's son, because of his dad, not because of him. She couldn't hear his name being called. Not from any of them.

No, wait, that was wrong. There was one voice, a man's, clear above the rest, and worried. "Hiiiicuuuuuuuup!" It called, fairly often, and well above the racket. Hearing it seemed to cause Hiccup more pain, he looked close to landing Toothless then and there.

"Hiccup," Merida softly spoke up now, to get his attention. "If ye want to go back, just land Toothless out of Berk's boundaries, I can go on my own—"

"No," Hiccup replied, his voice sounding hoarse. "No, I'm going to keep going. Gobber's the only person who's going to miss me anyways, so while I'm sorry about leaving him, I'm going to keep going. It's better than staying there."

Merida looked down, a slight, worried frown forming on her face. "... Are ye sure?" She asked gently. She didn't want to take him away from Berk if it was going to hurt him more than help him. This was his home. If she hadn't felt that she had needed to leave hers to get her freedom, she wouldn't have left. If he didn't feel that he needed to leave his home to be who he truly was, he shouldn't have to leave.

Hiccup took a deep breath, his bangs flying back in the wind created by Toothless, the morning sun shining on his shoulders, and Toothless's face. Merida wished she could see his expression right now, see if he was crying, if he was angry, if he was just confused. She was stubborn, but she didn't want to hurt him. He was probably one of the few real friends she'd had. Being a princess had meant she couldn't really form any friendships with the servants too well, and the boys weren't sure how to treat her. This was her first real friend, who treated her as she was, and she didn't want to lose him due to her being stubbornly stupid.

Finally, he spoke, with a steady voice that put most of her fears at ease. "Yes, I'm sure. I won't go back. Not to a place that has never accepted me. Not to a place that will never accept me for who I am. I won't go back to my disappointed father, or to a village that, with the exception of Gobber, never cared about me except to keep me out of the way and away from trouble."

He looked over his shoulder at Berk, which was quickly retreating into the distance, thanks to Toothless's quick flying. He seemed to study it for a moment, before stubbornly turning and facing the area ahead of them with determination, almost as if he was just hoping to put everything behind him as fast as possible.

Merida studied his back for a moment. The stiff shoulders, the straight back, the clenched jawline. He didn't look happy. "Hiccup."

"Oh, what now, Merida?!" Hiccup exploded with frustration, catching the attention of Toothless, and startling Merida a bit. "I thought you wanted me to leave Berk! Now you want me to go back?!"

"No!" Merida yelled back, frustrated herself with—to be honest, everything. She had wanted him to leave, but now she kinda did want him to go back, if only to say goodbye to Gobber, whom he _clearly_ would miss, and then she was thinking about how maybe she should have said a proper goodbye to everyone before she'd gone, but that would have been impossible, and it would probably be impossible for Hiccup to give Gobber a proper goodbye for the same reason that she had been unable to, since it probably meant he'd never be able to leave this easily again, and... and... "Augh!" Merida groaned. "It's not as simple as that! I want ye to leave whatever was choking ye, and pullin' ye down! I... I didn't want ye to go around, just leaving yer home, if that meant that it would do more harm than good! I don't want to take ye away from the place that you feel best in, even if _I_ think it's for the best, it's up to ye! I won't control other people's lives!"

It kind of hit her at that moment, how much she truly hated what her mother had done. She didn't care if her mother loved her, controlling Merida's life and trying to marry her off was something her mother should never have tried to do. It was her life, not her mum's, and her mum never seemed to realize that.

Hiccup shook his head firmly. "I don't want to stay, you were right the first time. Gobber's the only one who cared, and even if I didn't get to say goodbye to him, I will come back later and tell him myself, when I've got a life away from Berk. I won't go back to that trap, to be put down again, and forced into a life I don't want to live. No one's going to make me—Toothless!"

Just then, Toothless had dived into the foggy area that had been beneath him. "Toothless, what's happening?" Hiccup asked him, as Merida stared mutely at the dark area around them. It was so foggy, one could hardly see the length of Toothless, let alone where they were going.

"What is it?" Hiccup tried again futily, with no response from the dragon who was flapping wildly around beneath them. Out of the mist behind them, a large, red dragon suddenly appeared, carrying a sheep in its claws, and Toothless darted to the side to avoid it.

As soon as Hiccup saw it, he leaned forward quickly, hissing to Merida "Get down!" The warning was unnecessary, since she was already doing just that, startled by the sight of the huge dragon, and trying to make herself as unnoticeable as possible.

The dragon veered off, and Toothless flew away from where it was, only to see a blue dragon that was shaped differently, about the same size as the nightfury they were riding, carrying something in its claws as well. Toothless started to pull away from it, only to be flanked by a different red dragon, which held something that didn't look like a sheep at all in its own claws. Gradually, more and more dragons could be visual through the mist, increasing Merida's nervousness.

All of them screeched and hooted to each other in an odd manner, flying around each other through the mist with ease. As the mist thinned further, and Merida could see more dragons, she couldn't stand it anymore. "Hiccup, what's going on?" She hissed.

"I don't know," He replied, in a slightly worried tone that didn't help her at all. "Toothless, you gotta get us out of here, bud," Hiccup pleaded, placing his hand on Toothless's head. The dragon shook it off roughly, surprising Merida and Hiccup a bit, and worrying them further.

The pair looked around and the flock of dragons surrounding them, and Hiccup tossed a guess out. "It looks like they're... hauling in their kill..." He pointed out hesitantly.

"Um... not to make th' situation worse or anything... but what would that make us?" Merida replied in a worried tone.

Hiccup didn't reply to that, and Merida hoped it was because he hadn't heard her.

As they turned their attention back to their surroundings, they saw dragons starting to dive down, as Toothless started to prepare to do the same. Merida gasped as Toothless darted down along with the rest of the dragons, to glide near the surface of the water, darting around outcroppings of rock that suddenly appeared out of the mist.

The dragons glided and swooped through the obstacle course as if it were a clear sky with nothing in their way, and not a care, though Merida thought for sure a couple of times that a dragon would have collided with the rock it was maneuvering around. A red glow started to pierce the mist as well, which revealed to be lava trails on a mountain, as they approached it. A mountain which they were almost upon.

Merida and Hiccup remained silent on Toothless's back, as the dragons as a group flew in through a crack in the mountain, and through a tunnel, to reveal a huge, cavern lit by a red glow. The cavern was complete with perches for dragon, and the source of the light was almost entirely obscured by thick mist that they couldn't see through, though they weren't paying much attention to it as the dragons flew over the big wide area that dropped straight into the red mist, swooping in a trail over it, while dropping whatever they had in their claws into the red mist.

"What my dad wouldn't give to find this..." Hiccup murmured as Merida and he glanced around the cavern, wide-eyed at all the dragons surrounding them.

Toothless seemed to wake up at this point, since he split off from the rest of the dragons to spin around and landed on one of the alcoves that was vacant of dragons, while drenched in shadow and overlooking the stream of dragons dropping what looked like food into the pit.

"Well, it's satisfying to know that all our food has been dumped down a hole," Hiccup commented wryly. Merida watched the stream of dragons curiously.

"How long have they been stealin' food?" She questioned quietly.

"As long as I can remember," Hiccup replied just as quietly, his attention still fixated on the stream of dragons.

"And it's all been goin' down there?" Merida felt her eyebrows shoot up towards her hairline in surprise. What were all the dragons doing that for? "They aren't even eatin' any of it!"

Hiccup hissed at her to be quiet as he turned his attention towards a brown lump of a dragon that was drunkenly flapping its way towards the pit, nothing in its claws. They watched, wondering, as it paused over the pit, shaking itself a moment, before vomiting up a whole, but small, fish into the pit. It watched the fish drop down with a satisfied, lazy look, and scratched its head before stopping as it heard a slight growl.

It started to fly off again, when an _enormous_ dragon head shot out of the pit, engulfing the entire brown dragon in its jaws. Merida and Hiccup could only watch, shocked and scared, as the other dragons shrank back.

The head started to retreat into the mist afterward, but paused, its nostrils flaring. "Alright buddy, we gotta get out of here," Hiccup murmured to Toothless, patting his head before turning his full attention towards being able to help Toothless fly them out of there. Realizing that they'd be in for a rough flight, and that Hiccup wouldn't be able to spare any thought for her, Merida wrapped her arms tightly around his waist, wishing for a moment that she'd thought to ask him to modify the saddle to be able to securely include two people before they'd left.

The dragon head paused for a moment, its pupils narrowing as it seemed to locate them. "Now!" Hiccup hissed to Toothless, who launched immediately, barely missing being chomped on by the other dragon.

This seemed to set off all the other dragons, who burst into flight, all of them spiraling out through the top. The enormous dragon climbed, using the alcoves as support, still trying to reach them, but when it caught an unlucky, two-headed dragon in its jaws instead, it seemed satisfied enough to fall back to the bottom, allowing them and the other dragons to burst into the sunlight.

The pair were breathing heavily for a bit, as they continued eastward, away from Berk, and away from the Dragon's Nest. Merida tried to steady her breathing, but found she couldn't, particularly whenever she thought about how close those dragons jaws had been.

Then she thought a moment. "Don't ye want to tell yer father about that? Isn't it a danger to Berk?"

Hiccup shook his head. "No, I won't tell him. If I did, even leaving a note, once I left again, it'd be the first thing he'd go after. That is, if he didn't capture Toothless to get to it first. And it'll only be a danger to them as long as they become friends with the dragons. The dragons won't want to steal food from their friends, and they'll be able to help us get more than enough fish to satiate all of them. At least... I hope so."

Merida let it be. They had dealt with enough conflict and worry today. She didn't know how Berk worked, so she shouldn't put her two bits in until she did. She satisfied herself meanwhile with taking in their surroundings, and hoping they'd be able to land soon, to satisfy her weak knees and pounding heart.

* * *

_**Tada! There is the updated chapter I promised! It's even about 800 more words than the longest chapter I've ever written. O.O Holy cow!**_

_**And I have already started on the next part of the chapter-It's one I can't wait on! So I don't think you all will have to wait any longer than maybe the 20th for an update, since I've got a lot of schoolwork in coming, maybe? Hard to tell with my teachers. I don't know if I'm going to be too busy with schoolwork and holiday prep for a sooner update, or if I will be updating and creating more stuff for the story. Only time will tell!**_

_**See you later!**_

_**-Vasudha**_

_**EDIT 12/8/14:**_

_**So, I've been seeing a lot more traffic to this story than I had originally anticipated, and I have another question to pose to you readers. Though this one won't have its own update for a poll. More, next time you see a chapter, you'll see how it's going.**_

_**The question I'm going to pose may affect quite a bit, so I'd like you to consider carefully, and answer in reviews, 'kay?**_

_**I have been thinking about going back with what I've learned, and rewriting/updating the past chapters. The basic storyline would stay the same, but it would be more grammatically correct, with an easier flow, and possibly with a beta-reader to top it all off. The main idea of each chapter would remain the same, and within that chapter, but things such as descriptions of scenes, specific sentences, and such would change.**_

_**Do you, the readers, think I should do this?**_

_**Your thoughts would be much appreciated on the subject, since I have been playing ping-pong with myself over it. Domo Arigato Gozaimasu for reading this far!**_

_**Ja mata~**_

_**-Vasudha**_


	12. The Lone Tower

Five hours later, Hiccup didn't care what they'd seen, or the fact that Merida was probably one of the few ways he'd be able to get food, he was about ready to shove her off of Toothless himself.

"I'm boooooorrrred." Merida complained, drawing out the word, and grating on his nerves far too entirely. She was leaning back as far as she could, keeping her weight by having her hands on one of the packs, and had ended up being part of the reason for a lot of the issues they'd dealt with that had kept them up in the air.

The first time they'd landed, they had picked a spot next to a stream, so that they could all get water. As they were gulping down the water, Merida had noticed some berries, and had gone to fetch them to supplement their diet of meat along the way. Discovering the bear had not been intended.

The second time they had landed, Merida had had the sense not to go anywhere, and Hiccup had plopped down, and the two of them had been taking care of the things they had with them, and filling up water skins Merida had brought with. They had made the mistake of not paying attention to the dragon. The mistake was made clear when Toothless returned to them with a cloud of wasps hot on his tail. The flight out of that area was punctuated with spurts of fire from Toothless, and shouts from Merida and Hiccup as they tried to wave away the wasps, with mixed success.

The third time they'd landed, Hiccup had caused the trouble, without really trying to. He had been sketching the trees around them, and the area in general. It was stuff he'd never really seen before, such lush forest with different areas, and warmer temperatures. It was summer, after all, but Berk was cold more often than not, and who could blame him for being curious?

Apparently, squirrels.

Hiccup rubbed his arms as they flew, hissing as he pressed the rough fabric of his shirt along the scratches.

He had picked up an acorn, wondering what it was doing in along with others in a pile on the ground. His first mistake.

Then, when the squirrel came out and started squeaking at him, he thought it would be a good idea, not to put the acorn down, but to try and touch the small creature. His second mistake.

His third had been to put the acorn into his vest even as he was reaching out to the squeaking rodent.

Who knew that four squirrels could be so vicious when there was an acorn on your person?

He sighed, and shifted his weight on Toothless. "Well, Merida. Let me know if you see any good place to land."

A groan behind him told him that he'd been heard, and he turned his attention briefly to the forest currently beneath them. It was littered with mountains in some areas, but the trees were more deciduous from what he could tell, and were a vibrant green. There were quite a few small clearings that they could choose from if need be, but he would have preferred a larger clearing for Toothless to land properly, rather than a jolting short dive.

Hiccup turned his eyes back to the sky after a few moments, looking at the bright blue with annoyance. It would be a whole lot more fun to just soar through the air without a thought if he'd had enough time to relax on the ground. Merida was bored, Toothless was starting to get tired, and he just wanted a chance to sit down on something not moving for a while. Was that really too much to ask for?

Suddenly, he felt Merida shoot up, sitting up straight and attentive. "What about that place?" She asked.

He looked to the right, following her pointing finger at a tower he hadn't noticed before. He might have questioned why he hadn't noticed the tower, except that it was cleverly designed to not be taller than the rock walls around it, and he had simply dismissed the area as a circular ravine or an entrance to a cavern.

From what he could see of the tower from this distance, the purple roof was pointed nearly straight up. No chance of landing there. It also didn't look attached to anything, but what gave him pause was that the main body of the tower that he could see was a mottled green and tan color. "Are you sure Merida? That looks like it's not well taken care of. The only place I've known vines to grow up are places that aren't really disturbed. Maybe there's something lurking there."

"Aaah, are ye about to let some adventure slip by us? C'mon! We're here to discover the world, live a little, so let's do that! Besides, look at the place. Does it look completely abandoned to you? It's bright, there's flowers that are tended to around that area—look. See?"

Hiccup had to admit, around an opening near the top of the tower, there were well-tended flowers that looked to be annuals, rather than perennials. Those wouldn't just grow that well on their own. They had to have a tender. And the bright colors helped aid Merida's reasoning.

Besides, they'd had bad luck so far. At least if something bad happened this time, he could blame it on Merida. Particularly to use it as a reason to not stop until they got to a truly safe place.

Hiccup huffed a sigh, and looked at Toothless. "What do you think, bud? A good place to land?"

Toothless looked around at the whole place, and looked down, circling around the tower. Hiccup felt the shift of Toothless's muscles beneath his legs, and heard the snap of closing wings as the only warning he had that they were going down. "Toothless!" He exclaimed, as Merida gasped behind him and squeezed him near to death with the fear that she'd fall off.

They landed safely, on a grassy patch near a pond, but Hiccup and Merida had to sit a moment, still on Toothless's back, before they could stand up for a moment. When Merida finally did slide off, she was still a little unsteady on her feet, and none too cheerful about it.

"Okay, I know I was being annoying, but did ye _have_ to scare me witless?"

Hiccup shook his head, as he slid off of Toothless, keeping a hand on the dragon for support. "I didn't know what was going to happen any more than you did. Toothless decided all on his own, I just did my best to work with him so that we didn't go splat against the ground."

Merida didn't look convinced, but she looked pacified enough to turn her attention to the tower. Probably helped that the structure was looming over them, higher than Hiccup had thought it was.

High enough that he didn't notice the mischievous grin forming on Merida's face until he looked back down at her. "Oh no."

"Think about it, Hiccup! This'll be fun! It's going on an adventure, and we'll probably make a friend! This would never have happened at Berk, now would it have?"

"You mean me being persuaded into a stupid idea that involved possibly dangerous areas?" Hiccup clarified. "No, no I don't think I was stupid enough to trust the twins like that."

"Auch, come on, ye wee lamb. If yer knees are knocking that much, ye can go up in front of me. Then if ye slip, instead of heading straight down to the bottom, ye'll hit me first. Fair?"

Hiccup looked at Merida suspiciously. "So if I decide to be the cannon fodder, you'll be there behind me in case I fall off where I am?" He asked. "Somehow I don't think that'll work. And why aren't you worried about falling off?"

Merida waved away the question. "I been climbing all over since I was a wee child. Just recently I climbed up something that was about as hard to climb as this, and drank from the Fire Falls. Trust me, I'll be fine, and ye'll be fine since I'll be right behind you."

Hiccup crossed his arms. "Uh-huh. Sure."

Merida looked him over for a moment, as if measuring something. "If ye do it, I'll be quiet for two—no, _three_ more days of the trip. Deal?"

"No whining?" Hiccup asked her, skeptical.

"No whining," Merida agreed readily.

"No complaining?"

"No complaining."

Hiccup waited a moment more, looking her over. What were the reasons to do this? She wouldn't stop pestering him if he didn't, that was one. He was discovering a soft spot for her, much like the one he had for Gobber. Maybe it was because she was one of his first ever friends. And he had to admit, he was a little curious about the tower. And who knew? Maybe he would get a friend out of this. And maybe they'd be able to provide some tips about the surrounding area.

Reasons not to? It was a stupid idea. It probably would get them hurt, killed, or at the very least, flying away from this area. It might upset anyone living in the tower already, and he'd heard of an English tale called Goldilocks where a girl trespassed and caused the owners of a house trouble. Somehow, he could imagine Merida doing the same thing.

Hiccup turned to look at Toothless. "What do you think?" He questioned the dragon. He was never quite certain how much or little the dragon understood of human speech, but Toothless usually knew of danger before he did, being able to tell when Terrible Terrors were nearby or not.

In response, the dragon sat back on his haunches, licked his lips, and flumped down into a comfortable position to hold for a while.

Hiccup sighed. Well, that was a definite answer. "Alright," He agreed reluctantly.

"Yipee!" Merida cheered, running over towards the base of the tower and waving him over. _She looks like a child at a festival or something._ Hiccup thought, pausing before meandering his way over.

"Alright, so. Ye see the cracks between the bricks?" Merida asked, pointing a few small cracks and ledges out. "Ye put yer feet there, and look for more to climb up. It's easier with practice, but I don't see any doors around here, nor did I see any when Toothless circled before he landed. So come on!"

"Are you kidding me? Those small cracks? Merida, there's no way I could climb that!" Hiccup protested, shaking his head.

Merida smiled slightly, turning to him, and placing her hands on her hips. "You can give it a try, can't you? And people said you couldn't train a dragon, and, well, look at Toothless!" The dragon smiled at the two of them as they paused to look over at him. "He's your friend," Merida continued. "You can trust me on this, can't you? I'll be right behind you, you'll be fine. And Toothless'll probably be right underneath you before you can hit the ground too hard anyways! So come on! We're on an adventure!"

"One that's probably going to get us killed..." Hiccup grumbled, but half-heartedly, and he did his best to follow Merida's instructions to climb, which continued as they progressed, slowly, up the side of the tower.

Of course, Merida was far enough behind him, that when Hiccup squirmed his way onto and through the windowsill, she was too far to grab ahold of it yet. Taking the opportunity to act without her shushing him for the sake of "adventure, Hiccup decided to take things into his own hands, and be polite about the whole trespassing. "Hello?" He spoke gently into the dark room of the tower. "Is anyone there? We're sorry for coming in without asking down below... but we were wondering if you could point us toward anywhere to sleep safely for the night? We... heh, we haven't had much luck up until now..."

He taken a few steps into the area, reaching the edge of how far the sunlight streamed in through the window, and paused, turning around slowly to look around. "Huh," Hiccup marveled. "Strange. Those plants are doing pretty well outside but I don't see anyo—"

The last thing he heard was a strange twanging sound before he completely blacked out.

* * *

Merida sighed as Hiccup announced their presence to whomever could be in there. Okay, so maybe it could be a good person in there, and maybe it had seemed like a good idea at the time to send him up ahead, not only to keep him safe, but to make sure he didn't accidentally look up her skirt—she really couldn't imagine _Hiccup_ of all people not getting flustered by that, and he probably would get flustered and embarrassed enough that he'd let go and fall off the tower—and maybe it'd seemed like a good idea to get him into a little adventure so that he'd see it wasn't so bad.

Still, she couldn't help but recall all those stories she'd heard, not only from her father, but other seasoned warriors, and how there could be an ambush, lying in wait, or people hidden here. What if Hiccup just announced their presence to a pack of thieves? Maybe there was people living here who were perfectly reasonable, but had been slaughtered by a pack of merciless murderers? What if, even now, since Merida had heard Hiccup go silent, Hiccup's body was cooling on the floor, his blood pooling out, and—gah! She frowned in concentration, and hurried up as quietly as possible.

Slipping herself over the windowsill, she looked around quickly as she pulled herself up onto it, noticing immediately Hiccup's prone figure lying on the floor. The next thing she noticed was the figure standing over him.

It was a girl, about Merida's own age, which would put her at somewhere between sixteen to eighteen. She was in a pinkish-purplish dress, holding a frying pan over Hiccup. The last thing Merida noticed about her, since the girl wasn't facing her, was the _long_ blonde hair that trailed out behind the girl, for goodness only knew how long.

Merida took this all in in the short amount of time it took her to bring her bow up over her shoulder, and begin knocking an arrow into place. Unfortunately, a strange squeaking sound turned the girl's attention to her before she could draw her arrow back at all, and she hurried to do so, as the girl—who had large green eyes and a slightly freckled face, she saw—held her frying pan defensively out in front of her. The two girls paused, staring each other off.

Merida glanced towards Hiccup in fury. How did he pose a threat to this girl? He wasn't armed, he clearly wasn't dangerous, and anyone could tell by how he was speaking that he was friendly! She turned her attention back towards the girl, and took in her frightened face. Why had she hurt Merida's friend?!

* * *

_**Sorry for taking so long! I didn't mean for it to take this long to update, but the holidays came swirling by, and next thing I knew, all of my free time was taken up! Still got two updates into December, though, didn't I? ;) Tried my hardest.**_

_**I'll begin work on the next chapter right away, but I'd appreciate ideas and thoughts! Sorry it's short and might be a little rough around the edges, but I tried to get it out as quickly as possible. Any issues or mistakes I would be glad to have them pointed out!**_

_**Happy New Year!**_

_**-Vasudha**_

_**UPDATE NOTICE:  
**_

_**I'm going to be working towards updating every other Saturday, starting on the 21st of February 2015. Technically speaking I was going to update on the 7th, but school has gotten chaotic recently, so I haven't been able to work on the story.**_

_**Now that things are starting to settle down again, in the lull between Semester start and Testing Season, I'll be doing my best to work on TPTC, and hopefully get a couple of backup chapters done for when I'm dealing with Tests flooding me. I've got it planned out, just not written down.**_

_**So I will see you again on the 21st, and have a Happy Valentine's day, whether you're in a relationship or not.**_

_**Sorry for not updating recently!**_

_**-Vasudha**_


	13. The Castle Crumbles

**Hello again! Sorry that it took me so much longer than I anticipated! Life got in the way, giving me so much less time to prepare, not to mention my laptop died in the middle of me working on this very chapter.**

**From here on out, I'm hoping—as long as life doesn't get in the way—to update this bi-weekly on Saturdays, with the exception of the 18th****of April 'cause I won't be able to update that Saturday, regardless of whether I have the chapter or not.**

**Thank you for sticking with this story and reading it, despite the lack of updates! I will be working to change that, and hopefully, with enough work, I'll be able to get a couple of chapters prepared well enough beforehand that even when I get tough months I'll be able to keep updating. Cross your fingers!**

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Elsa paced around the upper room of the castle she'd created endlessly, though the click of her heels did nothing to soothe her nerves. "Get it together," She murmured to herself, trying to fix what she'd done. Maybe, if only she'd found a way to make the gloves work again... no, the gloves hadn't really worked before. It showed through her feet still. What could she do?

"Control it." She clenched her teeth in frustration. But how? How could she control it? Her hands crooked like claws for a moment in front of her face, before she sighed and released them. That was the point, wasn't it? She didn't know how to control it. She spun for another round of pacing, clasping her hands together in front of her mouth as her father's words came to her. _Conceal it, don't feel it, don't let it show._

"Don't feel, _don't_ feel..." She murmured to herself. The mantra had provided her enough control in the past years, why couldn't it work now?! Why not now, when she needed it the most?

"Don't feel. _Don't feel!_" She told herself sternly, before gasping as she realized just how horribly it was going wrong. The ice around her in her palace was red, spikes marring the beautiful snowflake designs she'd put there. The mantra wasn't working for her at all. It seemed to be doing... the opposite.

She looked around at the prison she had made for herself, as the ice spiked inward at her like all the hate and fear she had received at her coronation the night before, and she wished for just one moment, that Jack could have been there to help calm her, to keep her safe from the self-created cage.

Jack flew out over the trees, scanning the ground for the trio—quad?—of travelers that had left Elsa's castle. He'd had to fly around for a bit, trying to calm himself before he followed them. He didn't want to make the situation worse, after all, but he didn't want to leave Arendelle for fear that something significant could happen while he was away. So he had contented himself with flying around, trying to get the feel of Elsa's ice. Maybe, if he could understand it, like he understood his own, he could help her learn to use it, to see it as the gift it was.

He shook his head briefly, recalling his attention to his current task. While he may or may not be able to do that, he'd need to see if the trolls knew anything first, and he'd need to check in with Anna. Elsa would be worried about her, and Jack knew it would make her feel better if she knew Anna was safe. Besides, the group might be headed in the same direction if they knew about it.

Sure enough, the group was traveling along a less snow-covered area, Olaf on Sven's back, looking at the sky above. Jack smiled and waved at the snowman, glad to see a happy grin in return from the little guy. Olaf seemed like more than he was on the surface, and Jack had the feeling that getting the snowman's approval meant more than just a little silly friendship.

Olaf's gaze shifted past him, and Jack looked behind him at the Northern Lights. "Look, Sven! The sky's awake." Olaf murmured happily. Jack smiled at the adorable observation, and wondered for a moment where the snowman had gotten such an imaginative notion, before turning his own attention back towards the sky. He wondered for a moment just what that silly Santa was gathering the Guardians for.

Anna shivered, catching both Jack's, and the traveler's attention. "Are you cold?" The blonde asked, worry evident in his voice.

"A little," Anna answered, shivering, but not too much. Jack wasn't surprised, given that, no matter how much those claimed to be "winter" clothes, he doubted that a dump into a pile of powder would help those keep her warm. They weren't thick, like the traveler's clothing, and he'd seen the mess in the fresh powder at the base of the cliff earlier. There was little doubt that it had been caused by them, what with Marshmallow's footprints leading up to the cliff above.

The man looked like he had been about to pull Anna in for a hug, pulling his hand back hesitantly, then noticing something off to the side that Jack hadn't noticed yet. "Ah-uuh, wait, c'mere," The traveler invited Anna over to whatever he had noticed.

Jack flew up a little higher, wondering if, during the whole ice-throwing incident, Anna had noticed him like her sister had, and deciding to not take any chances. He looked over at what the blonde had pointed her too, and noticed a hot steam vent. It was making him a little uncomfortable just drifting near it, so he maneuvered around it, and drifted just a little bit ahead of them.

"So... ah, about my friends," the traveler stammered out, sounding nervous. "Well, ah, I say friends, they're more like family..." He corrected himself as he and Anna followed the reindeer and snowman in the lead. "Anyway... when I was a kid it was just me and Sven, until they, you know, kinda took us in."

"They did?" Anna asked softly, seeming to be aware of the bigger guy's nervousness about the topic.

"Yeah," He replied with what looked to be a rueful smile. The smile fell as he continued. "I don't want to scare you, they can be a little... inappropriate... And... loud. Heh. Very loud. They're also stubborn at times, and a little overbearing, and heavy. Hah, really, _really_ heavy." Unbeknownst to most of the traveling party, a smile had begun to grow on Anna's face, as she looked at the blonde worry about his family to her. Jack didn't know much about human interaction anymore, but he was willing to bet his next chance at getting away from the Easter Kangaroo that Anna trusted this man.

"Which—you'll—but—you'll get it—they mean well—they—"

"Kristoff." The panicking blonde was gently, but steadfastly interrupted by Anna. So the guy's name was Kristoff? Well, at least Jack wouldn't have to look for something to call him now. "They sound wonderful," She continued soothing.

The blonde visibly relaxed. "Okay then," He said, turning and backing up to a clearing full of boulders. "Meet my family!" He proudly proclaimed to group, arms spread wide.

He then proceeded to wave at the boulders greeting them, and talking to them as if at a family gathering... which seemed to unnerve Anna and Olaf, while Sven happily bounded along the boulders with Kristoff.

"They're... rocks." Anna couldn't seem to get anything further past her mind, from her stunned expression, and Olaf wasn't much better. Jack muffled a snicker at their looks. Dang, how he wished he could capture that moment.

"He's cu-raaaaaaazyyyyyy." Olaf whispered to Anna out of the corner of his mouth. Jack bit his lip, doing his best to keep from busting into full out laughter at that, curling up around his staff in midair. Ooooh boy.

The three of them watched as Kristoff walked around, murmuring more comments to boulders, and Sven continued to bounce around. This really didn't seem to assuage any of their worries, given the blank, blinking looks on their faces.

"I'll distract him while you run," Olaf muttered to Anna, as she stared in shock at this spurt of insanity from her companion. Jack smacked a hand over his mouth to muffle his snickers, and landed on an outcrop to save himself the worry of falling down onto the boulders.

Of course, it was only then, when he had a good chance to look at the boulders. And unlike the two standing blankly over there, he wasn't so sure that Kristoff belonged in the care of a doctor.

The rocks had an aura about him, an odd feel, like the ice he or Elsa made, or the Easter Kangaroo's traveling tunnels, or the Tooth Fairy's mini fairies. It felt... like there was something magical about it.

Jack's thoughts were, of course, interrupted by Olaf's—for once—overly cheerful voice. "Hi Sven's fam-a-ly! It's _nice_ to _meet_ you!" Pulling his head back to whisper loudly out of the corner of his mouth to the still-shocked Anna: "Because I love you Anna, I insist you _run_." Jack's only response was to shove the side of his hand into his mouth, pressing his lips together as hard as he could against a grin and laughter. This was comedy gold!

The little snowman continued, oblivious to his audience. "I understand you're love experts? Ooh..." The snowman paused to look towards Anna. "Why aren't you running?" He whispered.

Anna seemed to finally be waking up out of her stupor. "Uh... Okay. Well, I'm—I'm gonna go..."

"Nonono, Anna, wait!" Kristoff called after her, as Jack's suspicions were confirmed by the rocking boulders. He wondered why they'd waited until just then to reveal themselves, but shoved it aside as he watched them all roll into the center, to the surprise of Olaf and Anna, who moved out of their way, and chased them a little. Once at the center, or as close as they could get, they unfolded into... were those... trolls... of rock? Jack shook his head slightly. That was strange, even for him.

"Kristoff's home!" One of them—a she, he guessed from the voice—proclaimed, loud enough that the troll next to her winced, sticking a finger in his ear to dampen the sound, but with a grin as wide as hers. Cheers went up all around, and various trolls started working to get Kristoff's attention. Olaf even joined in the cheer.

"Kristoff's home!" He cheered, bouncing around, before realizing something. "Wait, Kristoff?" Jack had to snicker at that one. Whole trip and he hadn't realized that there was only one Sven.

"Awwww, lemme look at you!" One troll called, pulling Kristoff down to look him in the eye.

"Take of your clothes, I'll wash them!" Another tugged at his pants as Kristoff protested, frantically doing his best to counteract the caring being's ministrations.

"Look, it's great to see you all, but where's Grandpabbie?" The blonde asked a group of the trolls.

"He's napping," One of the little ones answered. "But look! I grew a mushroom!" The same one proudly declared.

"_I_ earned my fire crystal." Another little kid announced, not to be outdone.

"I passed a kidney stone," An elderly troll updated Kristoff.

"Kristoff, pick me up!" A third kid shouted before launching—himself?—into Kristoff's arms.

"Ooh! You're getting big!" Kristoff replied in a slightly strained voice, as another troll bounced up onto his shoulder. "Good for you!"

Jack looked over at Anna, to see how she was taking the whole thing. Her furrowed brow was smoothing out, and she seemed to be relaxing as she understood Kristoff's earlier comments and worries. "Trolls..." She murmured, as she began to smile in understanding. "They're trolls!"

As one, the entire group of said trolls all turned to look at Anna, and one uttered a statement that seemed to startle Kristoff, while Jack's hardly restrained laughter was drowned out by the following cheers: "He's brought a girl!"

Anna's feet were picked up from under her, and she was carried by all the trolls into the center of the circle before being tossed into Kristoff's arms, during which, Jack was fairly certain he'd heard one of the guys commenting "She's like a little cupcake," causing him to grin. Well, she'd gotten their approval.

"What's going on?" Anna questioned Kristoff, who looked similarly confused.

"I've learned to just roll with it," He answered, placing her safely on the ground, where she turned into the grip of one of the more maternal trolls.

"Let me see... Bright eyes! Working nose. Strong teeth!" Kristoff chuckled softly as his family "examined" Anna, but his laughter was replaced by embarrassment at the same troll's next comment. "She'll do nicely for our Kristoff."

"Waitwaitwait, oh, um, no—"

"You've got the wrong idea—"

"Um yeah,"

"That's not why I brought her here..."—The troll they were talking to just smiled and nodded like 'uh-huh, sure it isn't' in reply to that.

"Yeah, I'm not—eheh..." Anna trailed off, unsure of what to say next.

"What's the issue, dear?" The same troll proclaimed, with a crafty sparkle in her eye that Jack was fairly certain he'd seen in a few mother's eyes as they paired up their sons with girls. "Why are you holding back from such a man?"

The trolls seemed like they would have gone on further, but a cold gust of wind interrupted them all, whipping Anna's cloak around her, and causing even Kristoff to shiver. Jack didn't feel the cold at all, but he supposed that was normal.

**[Sorry, guys. I tried, I really did try with the Fixer-Upper song, I was looking forward to it. But it bounces in between characters so fast... It was more like me telling a friend about it, and less like me showing it to you guys. It just didn't work. Sorry :(]**

A couple of trolls turned around, and the trio balancing each other in front of Anna tumbled apart, to converse amongst themselves. They were mostly talking in whispers, so Jack couldn't hear anything as he stood, turning his attention to the direction the wind had come from. That was what worried him more than anything... it was the direction of Arendelle.

"Kristoff, what are they..." Jack heard Anna begin asking her blonde friend, before she interrupted herself with a gasp. "It's you! Hey, you! The one up on the rock!"

Jack turned to look at her, confused. Could Anna... see him? Was his guess correct? "Me?"

"Yeah, you!" Anna replied. "Weren't you the guy up at Elsa's castle?"

Kristoff looked between Anna and where she was looking at with a look of confusion, even as some of the trolls acknowledged his presence with a few greetings. Jack ignored him, crouching to get a better look at Anna, without losing his perch. "You can... see me?" He could have understood Elsa seeing him, after all, she was connected to ice and snow herself. It was actually easier to believe than Anna, because there was a large possibility that Elsa wasn't entirely human.

"Well, yeah!" Anna replied with a snort, before pausing and looking worried. "Am I not supposed to?"

Jack smiled at her silliness. So this was the adorable little sister Elsa worried over all the time? He could understand it, having seen tons of siblings, with younger ones usually being watched over, and sillier, more inclined to have a longer-lasting childishness about them, seeing the Guardians for longer than their older siblings did. "Well, not many _people_ do, but I'm not a hallucination."

As if in response to this, Olaf, turned to look at the winter sprite who was perched almost right above him, a smile instantly appearing on his face.. "Oh! Hi there! I'm Olaf and I like warm hugs!" The snowman introduced himself with a friendly wave, before pausing a moment. "Aren't you the guy who was flying above us earlier?"

Jack chuckled before replying. The snowman and the princess were so similar, he wondered if Elsa had put a little bit of how she'd remembered Anna into the snowman. Maybe a remembrance of the fun times they'd had together in childhood? He blinked a moment or two, focusing himself on what was happening in front of him, and doing his best to ignore his speculations. There would be time for that later, when everything was solved. "Yeah, I was the guy at the castle, and yeah, I was flying over you guys earlier," He paused, tilting his head slightly to the side for a moment, weighing whether or not to continue with the reason why. After all, it was more of Elsa's right to tell Anna... but it kinda went without saying, didn't it? "I was following you because Elsa's worried about you, Anna. And since we don't quite know what to do yet, I came here to get two birds with one stone. To make sure you were safe, and to check and see if the wisest group Elsa knew of had an answer to the frozen fjord."

He got the attention of a lot more trolls at that point, and quite a few pairs of eyes were on him for a couple of unsettling moments. A _lot_ of eyes, all focused on him. He wasn't sure who to look at, his own gaze flicking from one pair to the next, as he leaned back a little from it all, in an attempt to get away from the focused stares.

A rolling sound interrupted the stares, and Jack relaxed with a sigh of relief as the trolls turned their gazes from Jack, towards the source of the sound. Kristoff, Anna, and Sven turned their attention to the troll who rolled in as well, though Olaf was still looking at Jack.

"There is strange magic here..." The older troll muttered, as a look of slight relief grew on Kristoff's face.

"Grandpabbie," Kristoff greeted him, and Jack took a second look at the troll. Compared to the others, who were just clothed in some moss, this troll not only had the standard clothing, but had a cloak of moss as well, and longish... hair? Grass? Jack wasn't sure what to call it. He also had a beard, which not a one of the other trolls that Jack saw had, and a strand of green—no, not green, yellow crystals, where most trolls had red, blue, or bright green ones.

The troll, in turn, looked up at Jack, with a scrutiny. "You, winter sprite, are you the one who brought this to this land?" The troll asked, a serious tone in his voice that seemed to make every word weighty. Jack shook his head, worried about what this meant. None of the other trolls had seemed that serious before... was it something that Grandpabbie knew?

"No, it's summer. I do _try_ to time it so that the other spirits don't get too upset with me..." Jack paused, taking a look at the troll. "It was, inadvertently, Elsa. She didn't mean to, but her powers got out of control, and, well..."

Grandpabbie nodded, looking downwards. "I had guessed this would happen, when she was a child. It is why I tried to warn her so long ago..."

Jack wasn't sure how to react. On the one hand, Grandpabbie had meant well, trying to warn her so she would know... On the other hand, it was _because_ of that "warning" that this whole thing had happened. It was _because_ of that warning that Elsa was so afraid of her powers. If she had just been told "Don't hit anyone in the head, and practice your powers," she would have been able to hid them, or use them to impress people, rather than terrifying herself and harming anyone accidentally now.

"Why did you warn her like that?!" The angry words were leaping out of his mouth, as he considered everything that had happened. The freezing coronation, the frozen fjord, aggressive courtiers, naive sister, the entire _snowstorm_ in _summer_, for goodness' sake! "This all happened _because_ of the way you warned her! You didn't tell her to just practice her powers, you didn't teach her yourself, you destroyed her! She grew up with almost no contact with anyone, being told her power was bad! By warning her that her powers could lead to fear and that 'fear would be her enemy', you surrounded her with fear and loneliness, and expected nothing to happen! You chose the worst method to deal with this!"

To be honest, Grandpabbie looked shocked. He wasn't the only one. As he had yelled and thought about what Elsa had gone through, Jack had stood, ice forming beneath his feet to begin covering the rock he was standing on. If his words hadn't Shocked them enough, his display of power had gotten every pair of startled eyes on him, with the exception of one. Kristoff looked at the ice in confusion, before squinting and looking at Jack, as if looking at a mirage, or through smoke, at the winter sprite. Still, for all that Jack had captured so much attention with his powers, he doubted that was what had gotten Grandpabbie's attention.

Grandpabbie shook his head. "That was never intended. I warned them so they could prepare... I shouldn't have left them to their own devices..."

Jack pulled his ice back into his staff, before flying over and landing in front of Grandpabbie. Ignoring Kristoff, who looked like he wasn't sure if he believed in Jack or not, for the moment, Jack crouched down to Grandpabbie's height, looking him in the eye. "What has happened already can't be fixed back in the past. What can we do right now? I'm here because neither Elsa nor I know what to do. Do you?"

Grandpabbie looked down, eyes shut for a moment, before turning his serious gaze back on Jack. "I do not know how to undo what Elsa has done to the fjord, nor do any trolls I know. I am sorry, but the only advice I can give you is the only advice we have gotten from any winter being."

Jack nodded, gripping his staff tightly for a moment, before forcing himself to relax his grip. He didn't want to freeze anything else, after all. "Anything could help. We don't know how similar Elsa's powers are to mine, particularly since she has done things I haven't, and I have done things she hasn't."

Grandpabbie nodded. "Then I hope you can puzzle out how it can help her control her powers, though it is very specific," The troll took a deep breath, seeming to steady himself. "I cannot remember any other advice, and it is puzzling, even to us. The advice we received as 'Only an act of True Love can thaw a frozen heart.' It was the only advice we ever received, and it was because a frozen heart eventually will turn a person into solid ice. Do not forget that."

Jack nodded, standing. "Do you have any idea bout the advice itself, what it means?" It _was_ curiously specific, though it made sense if that was the cure, but what exactly counted as 'an act of true love'? Was it a part of a play? Jack had seen some pretty weird cures for curses over the course of his existence so far. Or was it like in most fairy tales, where it was a romantic act of love?

Grandpabbie shook his head. "Not much, but what we do know is that it is an act of showing love, familial, romantically, or friendly. We still don't know what is a way to determine if a love is 'true' or not, besides just trying, but at least it does not have to be _only_ a true love's kiss."

Jack nodded in agreement, still silent as he mulled over the information, before looking around the clearing, raising his voice so they could all hear him well. "Thank you," The start in Kristoff told Jack what he didn't dare fully believe. Did the man believe in him? "Thank you, all of you. I'm sorry for frightening you, I really didn't mean to. I'll do my best to work with Elsa to fix this."

A hand on his arm startled him, and he turned to find Anna looking straight at him, her mittened hand on his arm being enough evidence that she believed in him. "Please, " She begged. "Please make sure Elsa is safe. For me?"

Jack smiled a little at that. The sisters didn't realize how similar they were to each other, did they? "Of course I'll make sure of that, Princess Anna," He agreed, before bowing to her, seeming to startle her. Maybe because a rough linen shirt, brown frosted cape, and ragged brown pants weren't clothes she expected to find upon a person who would bow to her like that. "Your sister's safety is already a priority for me."

He looked up at Anna's face, watching her look of surprise turn into a slight smile. Good. She shouldn't have to worry about Elsa, she already had to worry about everything else. Satisfied that he'd gotten the information he needed, Jack leapt into the air, calling for the wind to take him towards Elsa.

Before he got out of hearing range, Jack listened as Grandpabbie called out one last thing.

"Remember! Fear will be her enemy!"

At the speed he was going, Jack reached Elsa's ice palace within a few minutes. He was eager to tell her about how her sister was safe and unharmed, and that Grandpabbie hadn't meant for her to suppress her powers like she had thought he had meant. And maybe, between the two of them, they could figure what "An act of True Love will thaw a frozen heart" meant, and how it could apply to using their ice powers.

And maybe he should apologize for being so volatile earlier. That might count for something as well.

As Jack approached the Palace, he noticed the massive snow creature Elsa had created curling up by the bottom of the staircase to the door, shifting so that it looked like an unassuming snowdrift. It reminded him of a trained guard dog, the way it protected Elsa so loyally, but settled down besides that. Around towards the side, facing where the sun would set, was Elsa, on the balcony, practicing her powers. Swirls of snow drifted away from her hands on the wind, and she had a look of fierce concentration on her face.

Tentatively alighting on the balcony railing, Jack rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Ah... um.. Elsa?" Glancing over to notice he had her _full_ attention, much to his discomfort, he quickly glanced away again. "I—um, wanted to... apologize... for yelling at you earlier."

When silence followed his apology, he looked back over at Elsa, finding a surprised expression on her face. "You're... sorry, for arguing with me?" She asked.

Jack nodded, staying silent and waiting for her to answer, uncertain of how she would respond to this. _I was the one who flew off, after all. It's not like I can expect her to be able to leave very easily—she's got an entire country probably looking for her head, and she can't fly anywhere like I can..._

"I... well... You're forgiven?" Elsa replied tentatively, biting her lip afterward.

Jack stared at Elsa, surprised at her being so cautious about telling him that he was forgive. She didn't think he was going to attack her, did she? "You... you what?" He asked, a little blunt in his confusion.

"I forgive you..." Elsa trailed off on the response, looking at him. "What, is that wrong?" She sounded worried.

"I—no! Not at all... You just sounded uncertain... like you were worried I was going to attack you or something..." Jack replied, stepping down from the balcony railing to the balcony itself, walking with Elsa into the upper room.

"No, it's not that!" Elsa protested, hurriedly, turning to him. "I just... I haven't argued with anyone except Anna for a very long time... and the first time I've argued with Anna since we were kids was…"

Jack waited for a moment for her to finish her sentence before realizing the answer. "...Was the coronation..."

Elsa nodded in response, looking at him cautiously. "So I wasn't certain if you would be upset with me, and to be honest I didn't expect you to be asking _me_ for forgiveness."

Jack raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Isn't that what you're supposed to do when you're in the wrong of an argument?" He asked, curious as to what kind of odd manners royalty was taught. If they didn't ask for forgiveness, what did they do? It wasn't as if he was in the company of many royals, he didn't have any experience with that.

"Well, yes, except... you weren't in the wrong." Elsa answered. "You had a point. I need to let go of my control, of my feelings. I need to stop bottling them up, it's just... I don't know how..."

Jack nodded, taking her hand and leading her down the stairs to the bottom room. "Not quite true, Your Majesty," He teased, turning back to raise an eyebrow at her when they reached the stairs landing in the room. Turning to gesture to the whole room, he continued his explanation. "You created all of this, after all. That means that it _is_ possible for you to control your powers... Just not through suppressing them. And it means that it isn't just a curse, no matter what you've been told, no matter what you thought. Could a curse really create such beauty?"

He glanced back at her, as she looked around at the room. The delicate snowflake patterns on the ceiling, walls, door, and floor, the fountain right in front of the stairs, the ice formations on the stair railings themselves, it was all beautiful, and Elsa seemed to see that as she looked around. All of this meant that no matter what she had been told through her childhood, she could control her powers.

He frowned, thinking of what Grandpabbie had told him. "That reminds me, I asked the trolls what they knew about your magic," He casually mentioned the frustrating argument with Grandpabbie with admirable restraint as far as accidentally freezing anything else.

Still, with Elsa's startled reaction, one would have thought he had casually mentioned that Anna had sprouted wings and was talking to the sun. "You did? What did he say?" She questioned him hurriedly.

Jack blinked in surprise, holding his hands up in surrender. "Not much, unfortunately. The only advice they've ever gotten was 'Only an act of True Love can thaw a frozen heart', and they know that True Love doesn't have to be romantic. Besides that, and what he told you... I'm guessing that as far as our powers go, they're strongly linked to our magic, which makes sense."

Elsa looked at him, confusion clear on her face. "It does?"

Jack nodded. "Well, yeah. Think about it. My emotions affect the weather around me. Sometimes, if I get frustrated, or annoyed, I can start making it snow accidentally. I can make it snow on purpose if I'm happy, and I can make small flurries, or freeze things if I want to when I'm happy or calm. The more sad, angry, or nervous I am, the harder it gets to control my powers."

Elsa thought about that a moment, when they started hearing mens voices coming up the mountain. "What's that?" She asked, the two of them hurrying over to the door.

"We are here for Princess Anna," They heard a red-haired man saying as a group of men rode horses up to the ice palace, starting to dismount. "Be on guard. No harm is to come to the Queen. Do you understand?" He asked, waiting for a few murmured 'yes, sir's from the men following him to continue.

With that, the man in question dismounted, starting towards the Palace. "Prince Hans..." Jack heard Elsa whisper, as he approached. Before he could lead his horse to even the bottom of the steps up to the doors, Marshmallow awoke, smashing its hand in the way, and growling at the group of men. Jack couldn't see them very well past the enormous snowcreature, but he could definitely hear sounds of weapons being drawn.

Once Marshmallow pulled itself all the way up from its sleeping spot, it swung at Prince Hans again, and the battle began. Jack couldn't see how, but they seemed to throw something at the Marshmallow, which it simply pulled up its arm to take the damage like a shield, before growing ice spikes with a roar, smashing two men against a snowdrift.

"C'mon, Elsa," Jack murmured, pulling away from the door. "Marshmallow might not be able to hold them all off. We need to get up to the second story, to defend ourselves easier."

Elsa turned away from the door, looking worried, and followed him over to the stairs, pausing to look back. "Jack!" She exclaimed, looking at the two men who had slipped past Marshmallow, and were running up to the doors.

Jack paused, looking over at them, cursing them. It was clear that they were disobeying the Prince, why? "Let's go." He said, herding Elsa towards the stairs up, shivering despite his cape. Was it adrenaline? Or fear?

There wasn't time to decide which it was, the assassin duo were already running to follow them up the stairs, yelling "Up there!"

Elsa and Jack had just reached the room, when they had caught up. "We've got her," They exclaimed, taking aim with their crossbows. Jack gripped his staff tightly. _Damnit! What are they doing?!_

"No! Please..." Elsa pleaded with them, even as one of them, the bearded one, pulled the trigger. Before Jack could find a way to deflect it, Elsa raised her hands by instinct, creating a wall of ice to catch the arrow before it hit her.

How to help? How could Jack help her? These men didn't even see him! How could he... Jack's eyes widened, before his expression settled into a smirk. Of course. They wouldn't be surprised by any ice or snow attacks, they'd expect them, and he could help Elsa.

The men were still moving though, and he had to focus on the battle. "Stay away!" Elsa exclaimed, throwing more ice across the floor at them, making them dart out of the way.

"Fire, fire!" One yelled, as Elsa shot ice at them, trying to get them away. Then, as one spun away from her attack, Jack slid more ice under his foot, of a slicker substance than what the floor was made of, causing him to slip and fall. It didn't work for long though, and he hurried over near Elsa as he heard sounds of the battle below coming to an end. It wouldn't be long before these two had reinforcements, the two cats circling them like prey.

One began sighting Elsa, and she shot ice spikes up towards him, pinning him to the wall, with one spike dangerously close to his neck. "Elsa!" Jack warned her, as the other began sighting her, and she spun around, knocking the crossbow out of his hands with a blast of ice, and walling him in with more ice. "Push him out the door," Jack yelled, safe in the knowledge that the man, having not reacted to him at all, didn't believe in him, and couldn't hear him. "I've got an idea!"

Following his instructions as he watched the stairs, Elsa began pushing the assassin out the balcony, building up a wall of ice, though one without sharp edges, chasing the man to the doors. Once he realized what was at his back, he tried pushing the ice block away, but Elsa put more force into it, sending him through the doors with a crash.

"Now, Elsa!" Jack yelled, grabbing her by the arm as more soldiers burst into the palace, and pulling her to the balcony as fast as he could, causing her to stop reinforcing her spells as she did so.

"What are you doing?" She exclaimed, looking back at the soldiers as they started swarming up through the staircase.

"Do you trust me?" Jack yelled, pulling her onto the balcony, and walling them off to the side of the balcony with a wave of his staff. It would hold off the soldiers long enough for them to leave.

Hearing nothing, he turned back to Elsa. "Elsa, do you trust me?" He asked again, softer this time. She hesitated a moment before nodding, but it was enough for him. Scooping her up in his arms, bridal style, he leapt off the edge of the balcony, causing Elsa to scream for a moment before the wind caught them, carrying them away from the Palace.

"Queen Elsa!" Prince Hans yelled after them as they flew off. "Where are you going?"

Elsa glanced back at them, before turning away and burying her face in her hands as Jack flew as far away from Arendelle as he could. The frozen fjord would have to wait for another day to be fixed.

Hearing a scream tear through the air, Anna looked around suddenly. "What was that?!" She exclaimed, pulling at Kristoff's shoulder. "What was that just now?"

The blonde ice harvester turned in response to both the scream and her insistent tugging, a frown on his face. "I'm not sure… But it's in the direction of Elsa's Ice Palace—"

"Oh gosh!" Anna exclaimed, looking around hurriedly like she was about to leap off of Sven's back and hurry in that direction, rather than towards Arendelle. They had agreed with the trolls after Jack had left that they would go towards Arendelle and try to fix things there for Elsa to return, and hopefully be able to fix the fjord better, but in a choice between Arendelle and her sister, Anna knew which one she'd choose.

Unfortunately, Kristoff had better ideas. "Woah woah woah, where are you going?" He asked, nudging Sven with his foot to make the reindeer turn so that Anna would have to change her direction to get off.

"To save my sister!" Anna replied indignantly, the reasoning that this was the obvious choice of action clear in her voice. "What if that was her scream? What if the people from the kingdom got to her?! What if Jack wasn't there in time!? What if—"

"What if Jack _is_ there, and he startled her with flying her around?" Kristoff countered. "What if she got startled by something? We don't know. The other thing we don't know is if the situation in Arendelle is getting worse, and whether your sister is in danger or not, we _have_ to keep you safe, Anna. Really, _especially_ if your sister is in danger, because you are the spare. There's no one here in Arendelle to take the crown but you! If you die, no one can get across the fjord, and there will be a power vacuum! No one will be there to take over and take care of the people!"

"Prince Hans is there!" Anna insisted. "And he can take care of them perfectly well!"

"You don't know that! Have you ever seen him rule before? Do you know how he rules? What decisions he would make? You don't know that he'd be good at it!" Kristoff argued.

"He'd be better than me," Anna grumbled, which only seemed to exasperate Kristoff more.

"You don't know that!"

"Uh, guys?" Olaf interrupted the argument, looking between the two of them. "Would it just be better if I went to go check on her? It's kinda hard to kill me, and both of you need to get to Arendelle, so..."

The two paused, looking at the snowman, then at each other, the gears in their heads turning, checking over the idea, checking the merit of it, before they nodded in agreement. Kristoff, decisively, while Anna nodded hesitantly. "I suppose that could work..." She tentatively allowed.

Kristoff, however, wasn't hesitant at all about it. "Sounds good. That way, I can guide Sven down to Arendelle, and Anna can be safe, while also calming the citizens of Arendelle."

"Just one thing," Anna added. "If things start to get warmer, always stay where there's lots of snow. Okay?"

Olaf simply grinned, nodding once cheerfully in agreement before jumping off Sven and hurrying towards the direction of the scream. Anna and Kristoff waited a bit on Sven, watching the little snowman wander out of their sight before continuing onward, this time at a bit of a lope, rather than a walk.

"Why the faster speed?" Anna asked Kristoff, her arms around his waist to make sure she didn't fall off.

"Because we need to trust Jack, Marshmallow, and Olaf to take care of Elsa, while we take care of Arendelle." Kristoff answered, keeping his focus on the ground ahead to be able to steer Sven around any obstacles. "Right now, Arendelle doesn't have either its Princess or its Queen, its citizens just have foreign leaders there, who will most likely grapple for power more than care about the peasants. Arendelle needs you while your sister isn't there."

"Wow that... that actually makes sense," Anna agreed, before a feeling of confusion overtook her. "Wait a minute, how do you know all this stuff? Aren't you just an ice harvester?"

Kristoff looked a little embarrassed. "Ah, well... some of the trolls have been around for generations of humans, so they know a lot of this. A few even befriended some of the royals, who taught them about it so that they could have someone to confide in who wouldn't back stab them. I just hung around with the rest and listened to them when they talked about it. Pretty easy to learn from what they told."

"Huh..." Anna looked down at the passing snow-covered ground, thinking over what he had just told her, a little chagrined that she hadn't known, but also glad he was there to help her. _Even an ice harvester knows more than I do about running a kingdom... _She thought mournfully. _Kristoff probably wouldn't have even gotten into all this trouble in the first place. If I hadn't pressured Elsa, would any of this have happened at all?_

The thought refused to be banished, no matter what she tried to reason against it. _It wasn't my fault, it just happened to be that I didn't know about her powers and threatened her. And who knows, it might have happened anyways, when someone tried to pressure her into a trade agreement, perhaps._ Still, it didn't help when she knew that _she_ had been the one to push Elsa over the edge of her control. Not some foreigner, who was intent on some goal that Elsa clearly didn't want, but Anna herself... for perhaps the same reason.

_She had already said that she wouldn't give her blessing for a wedding. Hey, she'd even said _why _she wouldn't give her blessing! Why did I pressure her? And when she offered to talk to me, why didn't I go with her?_ A realization struck Anna, causing her eyes to widen. _What if she had been about to tell me about her powers? What if I just pushed her away?!_

Quickly, in an attempt to soothe herself and convince herself that that couldn't have been what was about to happen, Anna looked over the memory of it, analyzing Elsa's posture, her tone, her words and actions.

"_Elsa!" Anna called out as she hurried over to Elsa, who gracefully—she was always more graceful than Anna—turned to face her. "I mean—_Queen _Elsa," She amended, curtsying._

"_Um, me again. May I present Prince Hans of the Southern Isles," Anna pulled the red-haired prince forward as she introduced him, placing her arm carefully in the crook of his elbow._

"_Your Majesty," Hans greeted, bowing slightly, before looking into Anna's eyes and giggling with her for a moment._

"_We would like—" The chorused, pausing a moment to look at each other before turning their eyes back up to Elsa._

"_Ah, your blessing," Hans continued, pausing again as Anna giggled._

"_Of—" Anna continued as he chucked, his green eyes stared into hers._

"_Our marriage!" They finished together, Anna leaning her head on Hans shoulder with a giggle as they looked back to Elsa's shocked face._

_Anna's older sister blinked a moment, before raising an eyebrow in confusion. "Marriage?"_

"_Yes!" Anna squeaked out gleefully._

"_I'm sorry, I'm confused,"_

"_Well, we haven't worked out all the details ourselves." Anna explained. "We'll need a few days to plan the ceremony, of course we'll have soup, roast, and ice cream and then—" She broke off with a gasp, turning from Elsa to Hans. "Oh, wait! Would we live_ here_?" She asked excitedly._

"_Here?" Elsa repeated, shock clear in her voice._

"_Absolutely!" Hans agreed._

"_Anna!" Elsa exclaimed, warning in her voice._

"_Oh, we can invite all twelve of your brothers to stay with us!"_

"_What? No! No no no no,"_

"_Of course we have the room,"_

"_I just don't know. Some of them must—"_

"_Just _**wait**." _Elsa firmly interrupted._ "_Slow down. No one's brothers are staying here, no one is getting married."_

"_Wait, what?" Anna asked in confusion._

"_May I talk to you? Please," Elsa pleaded, gripping one of her gloved hands tightly with the other, glancing back over at Hans before continuing, nervousness clear in her stance. "Alone?"_

_Anna glanced at Elsa's hands before deciding. "No," She answered, retreating to Hans' side. "Whatever you have to say, you—you can say to both of us."_

_Just like that, Elsa closed off, releasing her hands, clasping them gently closer to her stomach, rather than her chest as she had earlier. "Fine. You can't marry a man you just met."_

"_You can if it's true love," Anna argued._

"_Anna, what do you know about true love?" Elsa questioned softly._

"_More than you!" Anna retorted sharply. "All you know is how to shut people out!"_

_The jab had clearly hit, from the hurt in Elsa's eyes, as she pulled back slightly, before regaining her composure. "You asked for my blessing, but my answer is no." She replied fiercely, glaring at Hans. "Now," She continued, taking a breath. "Excuse me."_

_The last had come out as a mumble, as she turned away, and Hans stepped forward to attempt to plead their case. "Your Majesty, if I may ease your—"_

"_No, you may not," Elsa cut him off quickly, "A-and I think you should go," She finished, walking towards a guard. "The party is over. Close the gates," She ordered, continuing towards the door of the ballroom._

"_What? Elsa, no, no wait!" Anna argued, lunging forward to pull the glove off of Elsa's right hand, ignoring her sister's gasp._

"_Give me my glove!" Elsa demanded, reaching for it._

_Anna pulled back, near tears. "Elsa, _please! _Please, I can't live like this anymore!" She begged, clenching the glove tightly._

_Elsa, for her part, looked just as hurt, even when she replied with something that broke her sister's heart. "Then _leave_,"_

_Anna gasped slightly, her eyes widening in surprise. Even though she had spent years apart from her sister, she had never expected that kind of a response from Elsa. Never, particularly because of the fun they had had as children._

_Elsa just crossed her arms, sighed, and turned away. "What did I ever _do _to you?" Anna demanded at her retreating back._

"_Enough, Anna." Elsa insisted, still continuing away._

"_No, why? Why do you shut me out? Wh-why do you shut the _world _out?" Anna yelled, working herself up, and clenching the hand that wasn't already crushing the glove into a fist. "WHAT ARE YOU SO _AFRAID _OF?!"_

"_I said, ENOUGH!" Elsa roared, whipping around with a hand outstretched, icicles leaping from it in a half circle around her, forming sharp, icy spikes that pointed outwards towards the crowd. Spikes that came close enough to Anna that she had to step back quickly, before looking up at her sister's frightened face as Elsa groped for the handle of the door, whisking herself out of the ballroom, and into the courtyard._

It settled any doubt in her mind. No matter how it _could_ have happened, she was the one who had caused Elsa to lose control of her powers—and surrounded by greedy, judgmental people as well.

Then another realization hit her. What was Hans take on this? Did he despise Elsa, and want to kill her because of her powers as well? Or did he care about what happened to Elsa as much as she did? If it came down to a choice between the two... no matter what, Anna would choose her sister, every time. Even if it meant giving up a chance at true love.

Even if it might be the only chance she'd ever have.

Of course, it was then that Anna realized that Kristoff had been gently elbowing her to get her attention for a bit of time. "Hey, you okay back there?" He whispered harshly.

"What? Oh! Um, yeah. Yeah, I'm doing fine. Just... thinking," Anna replied quietly.

"Well, do you know any of the people up ahead?" Kristoff asked, looking suspiciously ahead.

Anna finally turned her attention up from the ground, or the ice harvester's shoulder, looking up at where Kristoff was looking. Surprise flooding her as she recognized one of the men slowly guiding their horses through the snow.

"Prince Hans!" She exclaimed, ignoring the exasperated sigh from Kristoff as the redheaded royal looked over towards them, first surprise suffusing his face, before a smile replaced it.

"Princess Anna!" He replied cheerfully. "I wouldn't have expected to see you here!" Then he paused, frowning a bit in confusion. "But I thought you were going to talk to Elsa?"

"Oh... I did! But her snowman guard threw us out into a snowdrift, so we were just now making our way back." Anna wasn't sure why she didn't tell Hans about the trolls, but something just... told her not to, she supposed, and she trusted it. Looking over the episode with Elsa tonight told her how many points her older sister had had, and Anna planned to get to know Hans better before deciding whether to marry him or not.

"Ah," Something—Anna wasn't sure what—filled Hans' face. Relief? Suspicion? Anna couldn't tell, and she was too busy looking at the large group of _armed_ men to try and puzzle it out.

"What were you doing?" She asked, confused. What was a group of armed men doing out here, when she'd specifically said to leave it up to her? Were they... trying to kill Elsa anyways? Anna's eyes widened at the prospect.

"Oh! Well, we..." Hans cleared his throat, looking acutely aware of Kristoff's focused stare. "When you didn't return, but your horse did, we assumed... ahem... We assumed that some... trouble, had befallen you, and we came to rescue you."

Anna wasn't falling for the pretty cover for it all. "You thought Elsa had killed me and you were coming to kill her." She replied flatly.

To his credit, the prince of the Southern Isles, while not denying it, at least had the decency to flush, and be embarrassed at being caught, if not chagrined that it was the first action he'd taken. The sparkling image Anna had of him in her mind gained a crack. What kind of man assumed that sisters would kill each other that easily? And if he assumed that about Anna and Elsa, what was he like to his own brothers? What would he be like to Anna and Elsa? To the people of Arendelle?

Prince Hans cleared his throat, and Anna stared at him, feeling entirely unimpressed with the prince at the moment. "Well... even if we considered that—a-and we were going to capture her and take her back to Arendelle first! We... couldn't do any of that. She escaped."

Anna's heart soared at the news. Then she heard one of the guards mutter. "The bloody witch _flew_ is what she did."

She wasn't sure how to react to that. On the one hand, she was happy, because that meant that Jack had been watching out for Elsa, and had flown her out of there when things were getting too rough. On the other hand, the guards seemed to consider Elsa only as an evil to be slain, not some misunderstood person who needed to be forgiven for a mistake.

"It's not her fault that the fjord is frozen! She'd never frozen anything like that before! It was just because _I_ pushed her, because I chased her out and pushed her past her breaking point when I should have just left her alone. It's _my_ fault."

One of the men snorted. "Are you the snow sorceress that froze the fjord? No, princess, it is not your fault. That bloody bitch is the one who caused all of this, and she'll be the one whose death will fix it!"

Anna's anger grew listening to the guard. No matter how he tried to cover the insult with manners, he had insulted her sister, _the queen_, and therefore had insulted her as well. "That's my _sister_ you're talking about! And for your information, no one even _taught_ her how to use her powers! She's just been trying to figure them out, locking herself up in her room for 13 years to do so! It wasn't her fault, it was _mine_ for making her lose what little control she had, and what was she supposed to do? She was already doing her best to suppress it with the gloves, I took the glove away and that's what made the icicles shoot out from her hand! Nothing like that had happened before, when she'd had the gloves on, hadn't you noticed?"

The guard seemed unimpressed, merely snorting. "That's not to say she wasn't planning to eventually throw the entire kingdom into this kind of an icy, unplanned winter in the first place! Just because she hadn't planned on it happening _this_ particular way, doesn't mean that it wasn't supposed to happen at all."

"And what do you propose she would gain from that?" Anna snapped. "She's the queen of Arendelle! She's never been anywhere in her life! What would she gain from destroying her home?! What would she gain from freezing the only place she's ever known, the place that she loves?"

The guards didn't seem to have a response to that, but an oddly cinnamon-scented breeze caught their attention, and everyone turned to look in the direction it had been coming from, seeing a view of Arendelle itself through the trees that they were walking through—and a cloud of strange black and gold magic whispered—yes, whispered. It was the only word Anna could use to describe the sound it was making—across the land, enveloping them in the spell as well.

* * *

**Aaaaand... you may or may not hate me for doing that. But hey! I came back with a nice 13-page, 9291 (not including my little notes) word chapter, so pretty good? Right?**

**And as far as what happened to Arendelle... well, you'll have to see, won't you? ****;)**

**As always, I am starved for feedback on these things. Do you love the chapter, do you hate it. Did you get a reference, did you like the way I included a scene, did you hate the way I did it, is there anything you think I should change, is there anything you'd really like me to reference later/come back to later, ANYTHING. Heck, it could just be you telling me that I'm writing it all wrong!-as long as you point out what exactly I'm doing wrong. Not trying to promote hate here, just feedback.**

**Thank you so much for reading, you have no idea how much it means to me that someone thinks it's worth the time it takes to read the chapter—and the note as well! See you next time!**

**-Vasudha**


	14. An apology and continuation update

**Hi there everyone, it's Vasudha.**

**I know I haven't updated this story in FOREVER. What was originally planned to be a small break turned into a hiatus to finish a chapter I was stuck on, and now has turned into a period of time where to some extent I'm rewriting the whole dang thing.**

**The principle is the same. The idea that's driving the story, and the majority of the places this story is going to go are the same. But not everything will. I'm changing some details now that might influence everything that much more later. I'm getting together some beta readers so that they can tell me when a chapter's written crappily (pardon my language) before you have to subject your eyes to it. I'm working on making this story a better written one, and a more timely one.**

**But that means I have to go through however many pages of this thing I've got currently written, and fix my mistakes.**

**Once I've finished rewriting and editing the stuff that I've already written, and finishing the chapter I've been working on, I'll repost all of the chapters, and then the most recent one with a notice at the top so that you know to go back and read.**

**Heck, with it being over a year, I wouldn't be surprised if you decided to go back and read it all over again just to get a general gist of what's going on.**

**I wouldn't be surprised if you decided this story wasn't worth the wait. And I wouldn't fault you for that.**

**But if you do choose to stick around, for however long it may take, thank you.**  
**Thank you for waiting. Thank you for reading. Thank you for supporting me as I fumble through learning how to tell a story.**  
**Thank you for your responses to my chapters. Thank you for telling me your feelings. Thank you for being there, for having been there.**  
**For having been a reader of my little dorky fic.**  
**Thank you.**

**-Vasudha**


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